Until the Day I Die
by ninaxwings
Summary: AU season 5. Alex and Charlotte survive to live in Dharmaville. Suliet, Charladay, and what I am now calling Malex. Jin and Richard co-star along with some suprise appearances. The last chapter has been posted. Read "This is War" for the rest of the story.
1. Everything Ends

**I DO NOT OWN LOST OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS FANFICTION PEOPLE.**

The nosebleeds were coming faster now. So were the time jumps. Charlotte was dying in Daniel's arms and he couldn't help her. The others had gone ahead to the Orchid station, John Locke had claimed he knew what to do. There were only a few of them left on the island now. Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, Miles, Daniel, Charlotte, and Ben's daughter Alex. She'd almost died a few days before at Keamy's hand but that was another story. Daniel heard a rustling in the bushes that was Alex returning with water for Charlotte. Daniel swiped the hair out of her face and dabbed at the blood coming from her nose with a bandana. Alex crouched down next to them and held the bottle of water out to Daniel.

"Is she any better?" asked Alex. Daniel wet the cloth and wiped more blood away. Charlotte was babbling about ancient Carthage, the closer she came to death the less lucid she was. "What's going to happen if this doesn't stop?" Alex was having the nosebleeds also and a headache that never went away.

"Do…do you really want me to answer that?" asked the physicist. Alex shook her head no and retreated into her head. She couldn't die now. She had already almost died that week because of her father. Which was worse death by mercenary or time-travel? She couldn't get Keamy's face out of her head. Hot, white tears streamed down her face as she thought about her final moments with Karl. Sweet, beautiful Karl gunned down in cold blood by strangers. Her mother had died the same way moments later, her final words had been that she loved Alex more than life itself and would die to protect her. Alex had just learned her mother was still alive only to have fate snatch her away a week later. Her mother the warrior, shot in the back and buried in a shallow grave. Alex shook herself, trying to forget the way the wire cut into her wrists or the cold rain on her face. _Keamy's voice loomed overhead, telling Ben to come out. He refused. Keamy handed her the walkie and told her to say goodbye to her father. She begged him to come out but he'd made his choice. Alex looked up into his eyes, the coward was peeking through the window of their old house, unable to take his own consequences. She was going to die. Alex closed her eyes and waited for the gunshot, Keamy's barrel was pressed into the back of her head but there was nothing. And then a different voice came on over the walkie._

"_I'm coming outside with him don't shoot." it was Sawyer. In that moment his rough southern accent sounded like angels singing. The door opened and Sawyer stepped outside. He had Ben by the collar and was holding a gun to his head. Alex began thanking all of the major deities she could think of. And then it was over. Keamy cut her hands free and told her she could go. Sawyer shoved Ben down in the mud at Keamy's feet and held out his hand to Alex. As they walked away he informed her that she needed to be ready to run because Ben had summoned the smoke monster a few minutes earlier. _

"Alex! Get ready we're about to jump again!" Daniel's frantic voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Alex grabbed his arm in fear of being left behind. This jump felt different somehow, bigger. Hot, searing lightning split her head and she closed her eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. When she opened them again her headache was gone. "Charlotte?" said Daniel "Please Charlotte tell me if you can hear me." She moaned and stirred but her eyes were still shut. Alex realized she still had the death grip on his arm and let go.

"Is it over? Have the jumps stopped for good?"

"Ah..yeah. I guess so. We're stuck whenever we are now."

"What about Charlotte?"

"She'll be fine. You too Alex." he smiled at her "I want to thank you for staying and….you know helping us." He smoothed Charlotte's hair out of her face . Her eyes fluttered open and looked around.

"Daniel?"

"I'm right here," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Am I dead?"

"No. I promised you nothing would happen ,Charlotte." He smiled his sweet, sad smile at her and she realized she wanted to stay like this forever, curled up resting her head on his lap. She dozed while Alex and Daniel talked quietly, waiting for the others to return. Hopefully they had all landed in the same era. Their hopes were confirmed by Sawyer's voice booming through the trees.

'Where did we leave Twitchy and Sheena?" he said to someone. Charlotte sat up

"Don't forget about the daywalker!" she called to him.

"Son of a bitch!" said Sawyer. He came through the trees with Juliet, Jin, and Miles.

"What he means is we're glad to see you looking better." said Juliet. She knelt on the ground next to Charlotte "Will you be okay to travel soon?"

"I think so," said Charlotte "When are we?"

"Sometime before the Orchid was built." said Juliet

"Fucking fantastic." Charlotte rose to her feet and brushed her jeans off "Shall we?"

Sawyer and Juliet walked side by side. They grew more friendly every day. That happens when you time-travel with someone. Sawyer loved that Juliet could keep a level head and back up his leadership. The last thing the group needed right now was Kate sneaking around and undermining Jack's authority. Kate. Merely the thought of her caused a black cloud to form in Sawyer's head. He was worried about everyone that had been on the helicopter, had they even made it out alive? He couldn't worry about that right now. The time-traveling had taken its toll on the group They were going to camp on the beach for the night and decide where to go from there. Miles wasn't happy about going back to the beach and voiced his opinion to Sawyer.

"Why are we going back to the beach? Did you not get enough flaming arrows shot at you?"

"Nope. Time for round two." Sawyer wasn't in the mood to deal with Miles right now. He was about to say something else when two gunshots rang out from a short distance away. Daniel almost jumped out of his skin and Alex actually dropped to the ground. They could hear a woman screaming and two men's voices. Sawyer turned to Juliet.

"Still have my back?" he waggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed and they walked together in the direction the screaming was coming from. Alex was still worked up from the gunshots. Ever since her near-murder angry men with guns scared the living daylights out of her. She was sitting on her knees, trying to get her heart rate to return to normal. Miles crouched down next to her and held out his hand, trying to show her he wasn't a threat.

"Are you okay?" this poor girl. She couldn't be a day over seventeen and look what Benjamin Linus had done to her.

"I'll be fine." she looked so afraid

"Can I help?" She reached out and took his hand, like she was drawing strength from him.

"Was he going to let me die, Miles?" Miles had feared Alex would ask him about this. What had happened in the house that made Ben change his mind about surrendering.

"Alex, you don't need to hear this." she pulled her hand back and turned away so he couldn't see she was crying. "Oh no, Alex, ok, ok." Christ. Teenagers!

"_I'm not coming out of this house. She's just a pawn." drawled Ben into the walkie that Miles had brought him from Keamy. Miles wasn't entirely sure of what was going on, from what he understood Keamy was going to put a bullet in a very young girl's head if Ben didn't go out there. _

"_Ben, she's just a kid." said Sawyer "You can't let her die." _

"_He won't kill her." Ben wasn't going to turn himself over. Miles crossed the room to talk to Sawyer._

"_Who is she?" he asked quietly enough that Ben wouldn't hear him_

"_That's his daughter." Miles felt sick to his stomach. Ben was saying into the walkie that she wasn't even his daughter._

"_I'm going to do something." said Sawyer "Can you watch my back?"_

"_Hurry up." Sawyer slipped Miles his handgun and lifted his rifle up to point it at Ben._

"_What are you doing?" yelled Ben. Miles grabbed his arm and held the handgun on him. Ben struggled and cursed them but couldn't get free. The other two men in the house didn't move to help him. Sawyer ignored the yelling and snatched the walkie out of his hands. "John! Summon the smoke monster!" were the last words he got out before Sawyer dragged him through the door._

Alex had stopped crying and was looking at Miles in amazement.

"You helped too?"

"It was really Sawyer. I just held a gun." her breathing was normal again and she didn't look scared anymore. Daniel ,Charlotte, and Jin had been standing away from them so Alex wouldn't feel crowded but they came over to see her now.

"We're gonna be fine, Alex" said Daniel "Ben…he's gone. The time-travel is over and the mercenaries are dead. We're alive." Charlotte held her hand out to Alex and pulled her up to her feet. This was Alex's family now. Ben was all she had ever known and Daniel was right, he was gone. She should have been relieved, happy even but there was a sad, dark place in her heart that wanted him still.

"Alex?" She blinked back tears and looked into Miles' eyes.

"You won't feel this way forever. Everything ends."

_Meet me on the equinox, meet me half way_

_When the sun is perched at its highest peak_

_In the middle of the day _

_Let me give my love to you_

_Let me take your hand_

_And as we walk in the dimming light_

_Well, darling understand_

_That everything, everything ends_

_That everything, everything ends_

_-Death Cab_

If you like this and want more PLEASE review, I'm open to suggestions. Leave ideas for chapters in Dharmaville and maybe I'll write them in. The following chapters will be much deeper, I'm still figuring out the logistics right now so don't roast me too badly. I want to have a song for each chapter so leave it in the reviews. Thanks!


	2. All the Right Moves

**I DO NOT OWN LOST**

Two more gunshots came from the direction Sawyer and Juliet had headed. Jin took off to see what had happened.

"It's ok you guys. Come out." Juliet called to the rest of the group. Daniel, Charlotte, Alex, and Miles slowly came out of the trees. Sawyer and Juliet were standing over three dead bodies-one in a Dharma Initiative jumpsuit. A woman with curly hair was on the ground next to him, crying softly.

"We're in the fucking seventies aren't we?" Miles said quietly. Daniel nodded. This was a horrible development.

"They must be Others." said Juliet "We need to move, there'll be more soon."

"Shit, shit!" said the woman on the ground. She leapt to her feet "The truce! We have to bury these bodies." Miles was already having issues, being around three dead bodies. He walked away from the conversation. There was no way he was burying people he didn't even shoot. He felt a light touch on his shoulder and he knew it was Alex. He turned around and caught her hand. He wanted to pull her into his chest but he resisted the urge.

"Hey." She said. Her eyes were blue. Bright, clear blue. "I forgot to thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving my life of course." He kissed her hand before he let it go and said

"It was an honor." She giggled, not unlike a schoolgirl. Luckily she was rescued from having to continue the conversation by Sawyer.

"Bonsai! Sheena! Time to go."

Sawyer told the woman that they had shipwrecked on the island on the way to Tahiti. She was taking them to the Dharma Initiative barracks. Jin had volunteered to carry the dead man on his back because the woman wouldn't leave without him. Miles dropped back to walk with Charlotte and Daniel so the Dharma woman couldn't hear him.

"This week has been so much fun. Aren't you guys having fun? First the people we came here with try to kill us, we almost die from overexposure to time-travel, flaming arrows randomly rain down on us, and we get to bury bodies."

"Yes, Miles. The joy this island has brought me is overwhelming." said Charlotte "Maybe if we get really lucky we'll see a polar bear." She punched him in the arm playfully. He winced and rubbed the spot.

"You hit really hard." The conversation fell into loud peals of laughter, causing Sawyer to bark at them to shut up. This caused them to laugh even harder. Daniel almost walked right into the sonar fence but Juliet yelled to him just in time. Sawyer yelled at the woman to turn it off. She tapped something out on the keypad and walked through.

"It's fine." She looked sincere enough. They all stepped through, not expecting to be struck down by high frequency lightning. Juliet grabbed onto Sawyer right before she lost consciousness and they fell to the ground together.

"We're screwed and these sandwiches suck." said Alex. They were at the Dharma Initiative barracks sitting outside at a table. Someone had brought them food but no one was eating. They were all far too anxious because Sawyer was talking to whoever was in charge.

"He was a professional liar, we'll be fine." said Juliet

"Charlotte…umm,,is that…you?" said Daniel, pointing to a red-headed child walking with a woman a few houses down from them. Charlotte whipped her head around to look. Her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Holy shit." she gaped openly "Clearly I'm hallucinating. These Dharma hippies put acid in my sandwich. Can you explain this Daniel?"

"Uhh…Whatever happened, happened." he said "and whatever is happening, is happening." Everyone was exasperated beyond belief.

"Thanks Dan we all understand so much better now." said Miles "You should probably explain that to our fearless leader, here's your chance."

Sawyer was walking in their direction and he looked really unhappy. The first thing he did when he reached the table his group was sitting at was pinch Daniel's arm really hard.

"What the hell! Sawyer, Why me?" he jumped up out of his chair and got out of Sawyer's reach.

"You need to call me Lafleur or James from now on and they're putting us on the sub tomorrow."

"The sub?" said Jin "No! Sun!"

"It's ok, Jin." said Juliet, she stood up to stand by James "We'll figure it-

She was cut off by an alarm sounding. People started pouring out of the buildings with guns. Someone yelled at them to follow and they were lead to one of the houses. A woman let them in and locked the door behind them. She stood by the window nervously watching, waiting. A dark figure came out of the darkness with a torch, the lights came on and lit up his face. It was Richard Alpert. He was something different to everyone. An enigma to Sawyer, Ben's right hand, babysitter/ playmate to Alex, Juliet's recruiter, and apparently night terror to the Dharma Initiative. Horace, the man in charge, came outside and was talking with Richard. It didn't look good. Horace looked like he was being backed into a corner. He turned and walked towards the house James and his group were hiding in. The woman let him in and he shut the door behind him.

"Okay Lafleur, how well did you bury those bodies?" Juliet and Sawyer exchanged looks. Before they could answer Alex dodged around Horace and skipped through the door. "Where the fuck is she going?" said Horace.

"Teenagers. They're hormonal." said Sawyer "I'll explain what happened to this guy, just wait here." he walked out the door behind Alex before Horace could stop him.

Horace looked around at the rest of them. He stared right at Charlotte.

"Your face…you look really familiar." the corners of her mouth twitched, she was having trouble keeping a straight face. "Where have I seen you?"

"Nowhere. You've never seen me." She pretended to have a coughing fit so Horace wouldn't see she was about to dissolve into hysterical giggling. Daniel distracted him with a conversation about quantum physics so Charlotte could collect herself. Juliet leaned over so she could whisper to her.

"We're dying your hair first thing tomorrow." Charlotte nodded in agreement.

Alex was happy to see Richard. She didn't think he would recognize her but she wanted too see him anyways. They had always been very close. Ben would never admit it but Richard had helped raise Alex, he had put in countless hours on babysitting duty. She bounced right up to him and had to stop herself from throwing her arms around him. Sawyer came to stand behind her and they all just stared at each other for a minute. Richard was looking at Alex in bewilderment.

"I've never seen you before but I know you." he said "How do we know each other?"

"That's not important. Alex, if you don't go inside the DH is going to know something's up." said Sawyer. Alex smiled sadly and reached out to touch Richard's arm.

"It was good to see you, Richard. Now you'll know me when you see me again." She turned around and walked back to the house. Richard stared after her, still trying to place her in his memories.

"You wouldn't remember her. She won't be born for another twenty years at least." said Sawyer. Richard raised his eyebrows and waited for Sawyer to continue.

James Lafleur was a miracle worker. They were going to be allowed to stay on the island and the truce between the Dharma Initiative and the Others was still in tact. Horace had offered Daniel a job working alongside him as a mathematician and told the rest of the group they could stay. The night was ending as it had began. They were all sitting around the same table, discussing their situation. Instead of a tossing back and forth dark, clipped, conversation they were joking and laughing. Jin was sad in the bottom of his heart and being away from Sun pained him deeply but he would grieve on his own. They all needed to laugh while there was something to laugh about.

"I can't believe he almost recognized you." Juliet said to Charlotte, causing her to crack up all over again. "You have to dye it blonde this is not up for discussion."

The conversation continued, there was drinking and laughter and Sawyer couldn't explain why he picked the name Lafleur. Jin left first, he needed to be alone. Charlotte told Daniel very forcefully that he needed to come with her and he was more than happy to follow. Sawyer catcalled after them which got the middle finger from Charlotte in response. He turned to Alex next.

"It's your bedtime, Miley Cyrus." She kicked dirt in his direction and walked away. Miles shook his head at Sawyer and went to catch up with Alex. She waited for him, heart drumming in her chest.

"I didn't want you to get lost." he said, falling in stride with her. God she was beautiful, painfully so. She tossed that beautiful, dark hair over her shoulder and laughed.

"I've only lived here my whole life." he hadn't forgotten. He wanted her to think he had an actual reason for walking with her. "Why did you save me, Miles?" she stopped and stood in front of him, looking him in the eye.

"Haven't we been over this?" he looked at the ground, trying to avoid her gaze.

"We went over the what, not the why. You didn't even know me." He took a deep breath and put his hands on her shoulders.

"You were so scared, Alex. Ben was going to let you die to save himself. You were young and innocent, you never should have been involved. When Sawyer gave me the chance to help you, I jumped at it. I knew if you died, your body would call to me and ask me why I didn't save you. I knew I would never forgive myself."

She didn't speak, she just hugged him. He knew she was crying and he let her, hoping this would be the last time Ben could cause her pain.

Juliet and Sawyer were alone, finally, after weeks. He scooted his chair close to hers and took her hands. She smiled at him and reached up to push the hair out of his eyes.

"Juliet, I don't want you to think…" he started to say

"I don't think anything. Shut up." She leaned in to kiss him and he did shut up. They both shut up for awhile.

_Just paint the picture of a perfect placeThey got it better than what anyone's told youThey'll be the King of Hearts, and you're the Queen of SpadesThen we'll fight for you like we were your soldiersI know we've got it goodBut they got it madeAnd the grass is getting greener each dayI know things are looking upBut soon they'll take us down,before anybody's knowing our got all the right friends in all the right placesSo yeah, we're going downWe've got all the right moves and all the wrong faces _

_So yeah, we're going down_

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback! If you guys like this you might like my other fic…or not who knows. There's major Charladay drama coming and there will be some Juliet/ Alex scenes Juliet is just busy with Sawyer right now. 333


	3. Slipping Through the Cracks

**I DO NOT OWN LOST**

**To my lovely reviewers,**

**I had to bring everyone together quick so I could write THIS. Hope y'all like it.**

Eight weeks had passed since Sawyer and his group had integrated with the Dharma Initiative. Life was smoother than they ever could have hoped for. Daniel and Horace were planning several new stations. Jin, Miles, and "Lafleur" were working as security guards which was actually a fun job. They got to drive around all day and carry rifles. Juliet was working in the motor pool, she made being a grease monkey look classy and naughty at the same time. Charlotte was teaching geography and history classes to the younger kids in the Dharma Initiative's school and much to Alex's dismay she was attending said school with the high-school aged kids. Today was business as usual. It was lunchtime and almost everyone was gathered in the cafeteria. Charlotte, Alex, and Miles were sitting together at a table, Alex's legs were propped up on Miles' lap. Juliet and James were sitting a few tables over and James was watching them very closely. The corner of his eye was twitching slightly.

"I don't like how close Miles and Alex are getting. When did this happen?" he took a big, angry bite out of an apple.

"James, it's been happening. I don't like it either, she's only seventeen." replied Juliet

"Well can't y'all have a woman talk?"

"Oh no, no way." said Juliet "We've been down that road before and it always ends with her telling me to fuck off. This is on you, Lafleur. Are we on for date night?"

"On like donkey kong." he smiled his big, goofy smile at Juliet and pulled her in for a kiss. They said goodbye and Juliet walked off with her tray to go back to work. Sawyer looked over to see Alex running a hand through Miles' hair. That was enough. The Lafleurinator was on a divide and conquer mission. He got up and walked purposefully over to their table. Charlotte saw him coming first.

"Hey, rent-a-cop, coming to join us?" her hair was blonde now, and it looked amazing but James was not in the mood for banter.

"Scram, daywalker. I will always know your dirty ginger secret." Miles almost choked on his drink. Charlotte took great offense to ginger jokes, especially being called a daywalker.

"You know what, James? I'm going to get you a kitten. I will let you fall in love with that kitten Then, on a dark, rainy night I will steal a way into your house and punch you square in the face. So WATCH IT." she walked away without another word, seething. He shrugged, then he turned to Alex and Miles and sat down across from them.

"Alex, sweetheart, how old are you?"

"I'll be eighteen in a few months."

"Okay. Miles how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-six." he paused for a moment, then he got it "wait….what is this?"

"Restraining order. In place now, no touching until Alex is eighteen." he grinned devilishly. It was for her own good, Miles was bad news. She opened her mouth to protest.

"Alex you have afternoon class right about now don't you? Better scoot." She was flustered, she almost wanted to cry. Miles nodded at her to go.

"You suck, Sawyer. I almost miss my dad!" she stood up with such force it knocked her chair over. She cast a miserable look at Miles and walked away. James and Miles sat eyeing each other. Miles spoke first.

"You know we're just friends right?" James ignored him.

"Listen, Kung Fu hustle because I'm only going to say this once. If you violate your restraining order I will beat you down. I will kick your ass sideways into next week so help me god." he grabbed Miles' collar and pulled his face close. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Miles tried to look submissive. Satisfied, James let him go. He got up and walked outside so he didn't have to look at Miles anymore. Mission accomplished.

Jin and Sawyer were working the surveillance room later that afternoon when Daniel came flying through the door like the smoke monster was behind him. After a minute of incoherent rambling they were able to deduce that Horace was missing. They asked all the basic questions once Daniel slowed down. He'd been missing since the night before. Search parties were combing the Dharma territory but Daniel was pretty sure of where he was. They had been scouting land for new Dharma stations together and Horace had lead him across the line without telling him the day before. He was growing more daring since they had killed two others and not suffered major consequences.

"He wanted to build a power station at that spot, I'm sure he went back there and they got him." said Daniel "things could get really ugly around here if they can't find him-other scientists are jockeying for his job. Nasty scientists that want to get rid of me and anyone that's with me."

Sawyer grabbed Daniel's arm and started marching him towards the door.

"Jin, I need you to cover for me!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Ok!" said Jin.

"Where are we going?" asked Daniel

"We're going to find Grateful Dead, that's where." snapped Sawyer. Dharma politics were tricky. Many of the other scientists were jealous of Daniel's mind and wanted to oust him from Horace's side. If they couldn't get Horace back something unfortunate would happen to Daniel, fast. Sawyer had originally planned on this being a two-man job. Daniel would show him the land Horace was looking at and with a little luck they would be able to figure out where the Others were and if they had Horace. Sawyer was signing out a jeep and two rifles when Alex came up to them.

"I heard what's going on." she crossed her arms "I know what your up to. I want in."

"No way Hannah Montana. Come on, Dan." she cast a pleading look at Daniel but he just shrugged.

"You need me. I know where their camping spots are and neither of you know how to track, I do." she grinned triumphantly "Besides you need someone to use that second rifle. Daniel sure as hell isn't."

"She's absolutely right." said Daniel .

"I don't want my restraining order to get broken anyways, let's go." Sawyer grumbled, handing Alex the other gun. The three of them climbed in the jeep and started driving for the edge of Dharma territory.

Charlotte had a little problem. Well, it was little right now but soon it would be big. Colossal. Well, these tests were only 99% accurate. Fuck. She was pregnant. Preggers, knocked up, with child, Prego, bun in the oven, whatever she called it the fact didn't change that she was having a kid. She wondered if Daniel would want the kid. Not that it would matter because he was going to leave as soon as he found out what her even bigger problem was. She wasn't prepared to be a mother. Not too long ago she was clocking people with her gun and jumping out of helicopters. She certainly wouldn't want her children around someone like that. She walked outside and crossed the compound to knock on Juliet's door. Juliet was alone since Daniel, James, and Alex weren't back from looking for Horace yet. Wordlessly, she held out the test so Juliet could see it. After asking a few questions Juliet decided to sneak her into the medical building. She had stolen a set of janitor's keys out of a car she was fixing one day. They crept around the side of the building and went in the back door. Juliet had brought a flashlight so they wouldn't have to turn any of the lights on and attract attention. Charlotte focused on the ceiling while Juliet did the sonogram. She could hear the little heartbeat through the machine. Juliet was smiling.

"It's very healthy. You and Daniel are lucky." said Juliet

"Can you tell how pregnant I am?" asked Charlotte

"About seven weeks." she answered. Charlotte breathed out a huge sigh of relief. The baby was Daniel's. She had been really afraid for a moment there. "You thought the daddy might have not been Dan." Charlotte tried to look surprised.

"What? That's absurd"

"You're a really bad liar, Char." said Juliet "You can tell me anything, as your doctor it stays with me."

"Can we talk about it over pizza with anchovies and canned pineapples?" asked Charlotte "I'm fucking starving. Hey do you know where they keep the Apollo bars?" Juliet slung an arm around Charlotte's shoulders and they started walking together.

"Of course. We'll have a chocolate and pizza session."

They had been in the jungle for several hours with no luck. Alex had followed several trails from the spot Daniel showed them but they always went cold. Just when they were about to turn back bullets started whooshing through the air from an unknown vantage point. Sawyer ducked behind a tree and returned fire. Alex dropped to the ground and tried to shoot back. She was stupid to think she could be around guns again, her heart was about to pound out of her chest. Her hands were clumsy and she was shaking so badly she couldn't load the gun when she needed more bullets. She dropped the rifle and covered her ears, waiting for the bullets.

"Alex! Alex, we have to move, now!" Daniel's voice was in her ear and he was pulling her up off the ground and they were running together. The bullets were coming from more than one direction, there were at least two people shooting at them if not three. How had no one been hit yet? Daniel ducked down behind a tree and pulled her with him. She was having a full-blown panic attack. She couldn't breathe and she was shaking.

"Alex, stay with me." came Daniel's voice. She wrapped her arms around him to anchor herself and tried to catch her breath. That's precisely the moment the bullet entered his shoulder and Alex blacked out.

Then she told me she had a gun

it sounded like she'd used it once beforeWe have to succumb to

the feelings we can never face

I need you

I breathe you

I can't go through this all again

We have to succumb to

The feelings we can never face

I need you

I breathe you

I can't go through this


	4. I Will Not Die, I'll Wait Here For You

**I DO NOT OWN LOST**

To my lovely readers:

I just landed in Europe for two weeks so don't be sad when I don't have a new chapter for y'all every day. I'll be back soon with fresh material and even better one-liners. I wrote this chapter on a plane while I was completely schnockered (drunk) so it's a little rough but I wanted to leave it as is. Should the baby be a boy or a girl and leave potential baby names in the reviews! Oh and "Day-walker" is a south park reference. Daywalkers are ginger kids that can go out in the sun without getting an obscene amount of freckles.

Sawyer was the first one to regain consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that it was dark outside. The second thing he noticed was the stake in the ground he was tied to. He was inside a tent. Alex and Daniel were in there with him, also tied to stakes. It looked like Dan had been shot in the shoulder, there was blood all down his left arm and on his back. Alex woke up a few moments later and looked around.

"Crap. I used to tie people to these things. What happened?" then she remembered. The blood on Dan's shirt, the way he cried out. "Oh my god, Dan, Dan, Wake up!" He lifted his head weakly to look at them.

"It's ok Alex, I've been awake."

"How bad is it?" asked Sawyer

"Could be worse. It's just a graze, really." He was lying. There was a hole in his shoulder from the bullet and he was pale from blood loss.

"We need a plan before you die." said Sawyer

"I have one, don't worry." said Alex. Then she started screaming for Richard at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately, it wasn't Richard that came into the tent. It was a blonde woman with a handgun. She struck Alex across the face with the handle, thinking it would shut her up. What she didn't know was that Alex was at the breaking point. She'd had enough of being shot at and being held at gun point. She spit blood in the woman's face and kept yelling.

"Fucking untie me bitch, we'll see how tough you are without that gun!" she kicked out with her legs but already the woman was backing off. A familiar voice came from outside the tent and then Richard was standing in front of Alex. She had never been happier to see him. He turned to the blonde woman first.

"What is this, Eloise?" he didn't look happy "Why didn't I know about this?"

"They were over the line, Richard."

"You don't make these decisions yet. Go." she backed out of the tent as quickly as she had come in. Richard turned to Alex and knelt down beside her. He produced a switchblade and cut her free from the stake. "We need to talk. Follow me and don't try to run."

"What about my friends?"

"They stay here until we can work something out. Come on." He put a hand on her shoulder and steered her out of the tent. The seventies version of the Other's camp looked about the same as the ones she had grown up in. Tents and cooking fires. She hadn't spotted Horace yet but she knew he had to be here or they wouldn't have started shooting like that. She walked into Richard's tent and looked around. It never changed, just like him.

"Who are you?" he asked her "Why is your face so familiar?" She turned to look at him and smiled.

"I'm surprised you recognize me at all. Have you met Benjamin Linus?"

"I've encountered him a few times. He's just a kid what do you have to do with him?"

"He becomes your leader. Later on he steals me from my mother and passes me off as his own. You helped raise me. I've known you my entire life." his face was expressionless "If you believed Sawyer about the time-travel certainly you can believe me about this."

"I do believe you, Alex. When I heard you screaming for my help it cut into my heart. I didn't even know you were here I had just gotten back from an errand. Something implanted in my brain wants to help you and keep you safe. Every time I see you, I remember. " he had blurry flashes of memory. A blue-eyed little girl with dark hair wanting to be pushed on a swing. The same child splashing him in the shallow surf at the beach. These things hadn't happened yet but her appearance was unlocking them in his mind. There was one he kept having. He thought of it as a flashback but really it was a flash-forward.

_It was summer and his people were camped in one of the valleys on the island. Richard was sitting across from a man with the look of a murderer and glasses. This had to be the future Benjamin Linus. A six-year-old Alex came running up to them in tears, needing his help. She had a splinter and wanted Richard to get it out. Somehow, he knew this was how it had always been._

"I need your help, Richard." she looked at the ground for a moment then back up at him.

"The best I can do is let you go. Horace crossed the line. So did your friends. My people want justice for the truce being broken."

"Richard, the man that is bleeding out in that tent saved my life. He is kind and gentle and good and he doesn't deserve to die like that. Your people might be bloodthirsty but you aren't. You taught me about integrity and compassion. I'm begging you. I need them. Do this for me." Alex couldn't go through anymore death. She couldn't bear to lose either of them. Tears rolled down her cheeks while she waited for Richard to speak. He barely had any physical memories of her but seeing her in pain tore at his soul.

He reached out then dropped his hand. There was nothing he could do.

Juliet, Charlotte, Jin and Miles were sitting on Juliet's front porch together. The members of the Dharma Initiative that weren't out searching for their missing friends were gathered outside in the yard or on front steps. Aimee, Horace's girlfriend was hysterical. Bad things were going to happen for everyone if he didn't come back. Charlotte was holding onto Juliet's arm very tightly and trying not to cry. What if Daniel never got to hear about their baby? What if she never saw him again? Absentmindedly her other hand came to rest on her bump that was barely noticeable. Barely noticeable to anyone but Miles, that is. He had been drowning in his thoughts, worried sick about Alex and her panic attacks when he noticed Charlotte's hand. Then he put the pieces together. Then he cracked a big, white, Cheshire grin and blurted out "So, is it Daniel's or Gault's or Keamy's?" Charlotte was mortified. Jin and Juliet were gaping at her. Jin hadn't even known she was pregnant yet and she had only told Juliet about Captain Gault. She buried her face in her hands.

"Keamy is a rumor and heresy. It's not true." Not all the way true anyways. He had worked security on one of her digs several years ago when she was young and silly. That's how the stupid rumor got started on the boat in the first place. "And for your information Miles the baby is Dan's and I'm going to tell him everything the second he gets back."

"Yeah, Charlotte here's your fucking chance." he stood up and shielded his eyes from the headlights that were coming down the road at full speed ahead. It was a Dharma van, not the jeep that had been checked out and they were heading straight for the medical building. Miles felt his heart wrench and he took off running, praying that it wasn't Alex that was hurt. At least he knew there wasn't a body in the van. Juliet and Charlotte were right behind him when the van stopped at the medical building. Horace hopped out first. Other than a few bumps and bruises he was fine. Alex was right behind him. Miles could see she had a black eye but when he asked what happened she said it wasn't important. Charlotte thought the ground would open and swallow her alive. Anything would be better than what came next. Sawyer and a security guy came out of the van supporting Daniel between them. He was covered in blood and there was a bullet wound in his left shoulder. He was bleeding to death. Charlotte silently followed them inside certain that if she lost Daniel she would lose everything.

Horace had some of the brightest minds in America working for him, so why didn't any of them know how to sew up a gunshot wound? He had one emergency doctor on the island right now who was tied up at the Looking Glass for the night with a diving accident. There were several medical interns but they were all afraid to retrieve the bullet from Daniel's shoulder because of how far the infection had progressed. He was on an antibiotic drip but he wouldn't last until morning unless the bleeding stopped. Juliet was already in the supply room collecting everything she would need for his surgery : gloves, rubber-nosed tweezers, forceps, sutures, and dressings. She grabbed a mask and a gown on her way out. Sawyer was waiting outside for her.

"I had a feeling Dr. Burke was coming out of retirement."

"What else can I do, Dan is dying." Sawyer threw his arm around her shoulders and planted a big kiss on her cheek. He didn't speak. There was no need to. They walked into the medical building together and asked the interns to leave. Horace asked her what the fuck she was doing. She explained very calmly that she was doing Daniel's surgery and if he tried to stop her she would perform surgery on him too. He threw up his hands and left. Charlotte was holding Daniel's hands, talking to him softly.

"Charlotte, you have to go" said Juliet "He's running out of time." Charlotte kissed both of his cheeks and walked out of the room. The tears were flowing down her face openly. Juliet had the thick, white syringe of anesthesia ready to go for Dan's IV. "Do you have steady hands?" she asked "I might need an assist." Sawyer nodded. Juliet put Dan out and went to work. She sterilized the wound very carefully, the 24 hours he had been in the jungle had affected his condition critically. Fortunately, the bullet was right on the surface lodged under his collar bone. Sawyer held the forceps open while Juliet used the rubber-nosed tweezers to remove the bullet. After that he was out of the woods. Her sutures were flawless and neat. She tied the last one off and stepped back to look at her work. Perfect. She took off the gloves and the mask and threw them away. Sawyer did the same and they walked outside together where everyone was waiting anxiously. Charlotte didn't wait for them to say anything, she ran inside to see Daniel. He was sleeping peacefully from the anesthesia. She sat down beside him.

"I love you, Dan. I feel alive when we're together. I never would have had kids but now I'm having a kid with you. Your touch gives me life and that means the world to me. So come back soon. I'll be here."


	5. Mr Brightside

Miles was worried about Alex. She had been back from the jungle for two days but she wasn't really back. He couldn't convince her to go back to school and she wouldn't socialize with their friends the way she used to. The restraining order was still in place so they had to keep their alone time together very quiet. She had originally lived with Charlotte but she had moved out the day before to live with Dan so Alex had the house to herself. This was convenient but they had to be very careful or Sawyer would crucify him. Miles walked through the cool night air, trying to think of a way to ease Alex's anxiety. He arrived at her back door and walked in after calling out to let her know he was there. She was curled up on the couch, reading a book. It seemed like she just wanted the time to pass but what was she waiting for? He took the book from her and sat down. After a moment she turned and settled into his chest and looked up at him. Miles gently touched her black eye, it was healing but slowly. Juliet had said she was lucky the bone wasn't broken.

"You still haven't told me how you got this."

"I was pistol-whipped by a female other." she closed her eyes, not wanting to remember.

"I know Sawyer said he broke you guys out but I don't believe that for a second. Dan was shot and Horace is tactless so it had to be you. What did you do, babe? Why can't you tell anyone?"

Alex sighed and launched into the long story of how she knew Richard from the time she was born. When she told him Ben ended up killing the Dharma Initiative in another 20 years Richard was more than happy to release her and tell his people they escaped. Miles was glad he had her talking. This was progress. He looked at his watch. Daniel had been released from the medical building today and there was supposed to be some sort of welcome home cookout at his and Charlotte's house.

"That party for Daniel is starting soon. We should make an appearance. What could be more fun than large amounts of grilled meat and hard liquor?" he was selling this really hard. If he could get her back around their friends maybe she would snap out of this depression. She mulled it over for a moment.

"Okay. But only because he saved my life. I owe him that much." She got up and went into her room to change, closing the door. Even though Miles violated his restraining order all the time, he still hadn't touched Alex beyond cuddling. He was pretty sure he was in love with her, but he wasn't going to put more strain on her fragile mind right now. She came out of her room and did a spin for him. She was wearing a long, white hippie skirt and a tank-top that showed a slice of stomach. He slung an arm around he shoulders.

"The seventies suit you." he said "You were born in the wrong era anyways."

Alex went out the back door first and made sure the coast was clear for Miles. It seemed like peace was on the schedule for today.

Charlotte jealously watched the beer sweat in Sawyer's hand while he poked at ribs on the outdoor grill. She was barely eight weeks and she already felt very pregnant. She had morning sickness, she was grumpy, and she was eating everything in sight. Including the bowl of potato chips on the table in front of her. Daniel was sitting next to her. You would think getting shot would have a tremendous effect on one's psyche but not Daniel. He showed everyone the scar that asked and joked about how the island needed better gun control. The morphine that Juliet was feeding him for the pain probably helped too. Charlotte loved him more now than she ever had. His near death had opened her eyes to just how much she had to lose. She leaned her head on his shoulder and thought about the morning he woke up.

_Daniel opened his eyes to see Charlotte had fallen asleep in the chair next to his bed . He ran his hands through that beautiful, softly curling hair and whispered to her ._

"_Charlotte…Charlotte wake up." she lifted her head and smiled at him. He looked much better. What would she do if she ever lost him?_

"_Daniel, I have to tell you something." she began _

"_That we're pregnant?" he asked "I heard you before Juliet put me out for the surgery."_

"_If you don't want to-" he waved his hands to cut her off._

"_Don't, don't even talk like that." he said "I love you, Charlotte and I want everything that has to do with you and me. So forget what you were about to say and let's be happy I'm still alive." before she could respond he leaned over and kissed her. In that moment she knew she was meant to have this baby and raise it with Daniel. They were made for each other. _

"I love you, Lewis." said Daniel. His voice pulled her from her own thoughts. She kissed his cheek, loving the way his beard scratched her lips and how he smelled of the incense they burned in their house.

"I love you, Faraday." said Charlotte "I'd be lost without you."

Juliet thought this was adorable and thought they should toast to Daniel and Charlotte's love and the health of the baby. They all raised their drinks high except for Charlotte who was drinking water. Miles suggested they do a round of jager-bombs but Sawyer reminded him it was the 70's and Red Bull hadn't been invented yet. After some banter the party continued. Members of the Dharma Initiative swung by but it was really only their group that stayed. Horace and Aimee showed up to check on Daniel and congratulate them on the pregnancy. It was all over the coconut telegraph by now. Horace pulled Daniel aside and was talking to him very quietly. Charlotte saw Dan shake his head and Horace asked him to "just think about it." He walked away from Horace and settled back down at Charlotte's side. Horace walked up to Sawyer next and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Lafleur…you displayed really impressive leadership skills out in the jungle, bringing all of us back alive. I'd like to promote you." Sawyer gave him the blank stare, not seeing where this was going.

"Promote me to what? Are there Dharma Initiative narcotics officers?" that got a chuckle out of more than a few people because everyone in the program loved their narcotics.

"I want to make you head of security." said Horace "Think you can handle it?" Sawyer looked at him like he had just announced his peyote had kicked in.

"Are you fucking shitting me?" he cocked his head to one side, much like a confused puppy. Horace leaned in so no one else could hear him.

"Look, there's no one else. The last guy is suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder and can't do his job. We need a leader. You are a leader. And also if you don't take this I will kick you and your friends off the island, it's that simple." Sawyer spoke up so everyone could hear him.

"Why thank you Horace, I'm honored." they shook hands and Horace departed with Aimee in tow. Sawyer watched him go. "We should have left him in the fucking jungle."

Alex was having a decent time. Miles kept making her eat ribs and she discovered she liked playing drinking games, especially beer pong. Her hand/eye coordination was dead-on every time. Jin and Alex were playing against Juliet and Miles. Alex sank another one of their cups and yelled

"Drink, bitches!" Juliet drank this time because Miles kept missing his shots so he was pretty sloshed. Alex looked over at Daniel and Charlotte. Sawyer was grilling more ribs for them. Dan was pretty much a married man now. She was going to miss her friend and she voiced this out loud at the beer pong table.

"I wonder if Charlotte got the memo." said Miles. Alex was confused.

"Shut up, Miles." said Juliet

"About who? Gault or the other one?" Juliet was really pissed now.

"Don't do this Miles." he didn't have to. Jin did accidentally.

"Keamy?" Alex dropped her beer and turned to Jin.

"What did he just say?" her face was a picture of shock.

"Great, Miles now you've fucking done it." said Juliet. "Listen Alex it's a rumor it's not true just-" Alex pushed past her and walked up to Charlotte, seething.

"Hey Charlotte. You know since we time-traveled together and ran from flaming arrows together and lived under the same roof I thought we were close enough that you would tell me you FUCKED the guy that tried to kill me before I had to hear it from someone else. Everyone knew but me. Including Jin and he never knows anything. I'm out." she turned and walked away without another word. Miles followed her to make sure she was ok. Everyone else stared in shock. Except for Daniel. He didn't look angry or shocked. It was like someone had put out the light in his soul. Their time-traveling family of misfits was falling apart.

Daniel and Charlotte stood on the submarine dock. It was the day after the barbecue fiasco and Daniel had made a very difficult decision. Horace had offered him an opportunity to do some research in Ann Arbor and he had turned it down, but now he was going to take it. He needed a little time away.

"I don't love you any less, Char. I'm just hurt that you told everyone but me. That you didn't trust me enough to tell me. I'm only gone for the moment I'll be back in plenty of time for the baby, I just need to..to process. I'm not jealous and I would never judge you. I don't care what you did before we were together. It's that you kept it from me." Horace waved to him. It was time to go.

"All I can say is that I'm so sorry and I never meant to hurt you. I love you." she replied

"I love you too, Char. I'll be back before you know it."


	6. Endless Rain into a Paper Cup

To my wonderful readers:

I'm on a cruise in Europe and it's been freaking crazy. Sorry I've been slack on the writing. I met this guy that looks just like Miles and acts like him too. I actually call him Miles and he doesn't watch the show but he says he gets that all the time! I'm trying to recover from a night of drunken debauchery in Istanbul so I finally have some downtime. Enjoy.

_Dear Daniel, he's seven pounds and eleven ounces. He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. He looks just like you . I see you in his face, his smile. He has my blue eyes and your dark hair. His name is Rome. Apart from the new addition to our time-traveling family Dharmaville has been quiet. Alex finally forgave me so there haven't been anymore catfights. She's been busy sneaking around with Miles anyways. Did I tell you she lied about her birthday? Sawyer figured it out when she couldn't remember what day she said it was. They have two more months before she's legal. In Sawyer's book anyways. Juliet is still pulling bullets out of people, Jin is still Jin. Horace knocked Aimee up isn't that nice? All we need is another, smaller, Horace. I have to go cuddle our baby now because he's crying for me. We love you and miss you. Please come home soon. _

_Love, Charlotte and Rome_

Daniel had been gone for about ten months. Charlotte's friends kept her distracted during the pregnancy with 70's music and Apollo bars but she never forgot the pain in Daniel's eyes the day he left. He should have returned by now but in his last letter he had written he needed a few more weeks. Charlotte suspected he was researching new space-time equations and trying to find a way to get them home. He never wrote about what he was working on, probably because he feared his letters were being read. He always said he missed her and that he would be home soon though he never was. The pregnancy had been easier than she could have ever dreamed, so had the birth. Juliet was an excellent doctor and had been there for Charlotte and Rome every step of the way. When Juliet placed him in Charlotte's arms after he was born she asked why they wanted to name him Rome.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Juliet."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Rome is like an embodiment of everything we've been through together. The time-travel, that first night at the table, the flaming arrows, the Horace kidnapping fiasco. All of it. What we have now wasn't built in a day. Just like Rome."

Juliet smiled and reached out to touch his face.

"You're absolutely right, Charlotte."

Miles watched Alex dance through the foliage ahead of him. She was very excited. Well, they were both very excited. They were both about to drop acid. It was Alex's first time. They had decided the waterfall would be a good spot since it was in Dharma territory but far enough away that Sawyer wouldn't catch them. Alex tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked back at Miles.

"How in the hell did you get acid on a secret island?"

"Well, I am a ninja and Phil brought it back when he came back from leave."

"Phil? Phil really?" she stopped to look him in the eye.

"Yes, Phil. Hurry up we have a date with Lucy in the sky with diamonds!" he grabbed her hand and they took off running together. Miles was crazy about Alex. He loved everything about her. She had such a fierce, strong spirit but she had been so crippled by Ben that she had reached out to him, needing a protector. He hadn't been able to protect her from everything but he'd done his best to keep her safe from heartbreak and more emotional pain. He couldn't control what other people did to her but he could control his actions. That was why they still weren't together. That was why he couldn't just pull her back and kiss her. He didn't care about Sawyer's restraining order or what anyone else thought of their age difference. He just didn't ever want to hurt her like Ben or Keamy had hurt her. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he left that kind of scar on her soul. The sound of running water pulled him from his thoughts and they skidded to a halt on the rocks at the top of the falls. It was a perfect, clear day. They settled down on the rocks that had been warmed to a perfect temperature by the sun. Miles looked Alex in the eye.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked

"We had this conversation six times." she snapped back

"This is the last one."

"Yes, I'm sure." she looked right back at him.

"Okay." he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin. He popped it open and shook the two sugar cubes inside out into his hand. Alex stuck out her tongue expectantly and he dropped one of the cubes onto it. She took the other one out of his hand and fed it to him. There were tiny granules of sugar left on her lips and Miles really wanted to lick them off but he focused on the rushing water instead. They had about forty-five minutes to kill before they really started tripping.

"I thought acid came on blotter paper, why the sugar cubes?" asked Alex

"It all starts out as liquid, you can put it on anything. Sugar cubes, sweet tarts, blotter paper, gummy bears. You get the idea."

"You know a lot about drugs. We haven't had this conversation."

"And we aren't having it now." he stood up and started pulling off his shoes and shirt. "This day is too perfect and the water is calling my name." he jumped from one of the rocks into the pool below and watched Alex follow. They splashed around together for awhile, talking about the baby and when Daniel was coming back. After thirty minutes Alex started giggling. When Miles asked why she was giggling she said she didn't know which started him giggling. Miles looked down at the water and realized water wasn't even water. It was a pattern of liquid that constantly changes based on what it's touching. It was like a big, watery, machine. Evaporation, rain, standing water it was all part of the machine. Every drop of water in the world was in on it. And now he knew it's secret. What if the water could read his mind because he was standing in it?

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Alex, we have to get out!" he grabbed her arm and they swam for the shore together.

"Miles, what was it?" she looked really scared "Was it a shark?"

"No..the water..it..was freaking me out." no need to scare Alex with his mind-reading water acid theory. She laughed and shook the water out of her hair. Miles thought it looked like ice freezing backwards or maybe it was melting? Alex's high-pitch squealing broke his thought pattern.

"Eeeeh! I have to pee! Damn you waterfall!" she scrambled back up the rocks to collect her shoes and clothes before she disappeared into the jungle. Miles laughed and sat back down on a rock to dry off in the sun.

_Except it wasn't sunny anymore. It was raining and he was standing in about a foot of mud with a roll of duct tape in his hand. He was standing under a plane. He was reconnecting a cable that had been severed so they could fly the plane off the island. Richard was standing with him, holding a flashlight on the diagram of the plane's mechanics so he could see. Alex wasn't here. Why wasn't she with him?_

"_Richard, where's Alex?" he asked "Is she on the plane?"_

"_Did you say Alex?" asked Richard "Are you okay?"_

_Miles grabbed his shirt and got in his face._

"_Just tell me where she is!" he was getting scared now._

"_She's dead, Miles. You were there when she died. We walked over her grave yesterday, don't you remember?" Miles couldn't speak "Did you even know her?" _

_Miles wasn't listening anymore because he was back inside Ben's house on the Dharma compound. Sawyer had his hands around Ben's throat and he was yelling incoherently. John Locke and Hurley were watching the scene play out in horror. The walkie talkie was on the ground, Keamy's voice was filtering though. Miles looked out the window. Alex's lifeless body lay in the mud at Keamy's feet. There was blood in that long, beautiful, dark hair that Miles had kissed so many times. Rage coursed through every inch of his soul and he decided Ben had to die first, then Keamy._

"Miles, Miles!" he knew that voice. It was like an angel was calling him home. He opened his eyes and the dark scene disappeared and Alex's deep blue eyes were looking right into his. He was sitting on the rock she had left him on. It wasn't real. Thank god, it wasn't real. He threw his arms around her and pulled her down on top of him. He knew this was it. This was what his mind was trying to show him. He didn't have time for another thought because Alex kissed him and they stayed tangled together for what felt like hours. They moved from the rock into the soft jungle grass and watched the sky for patterns the acid created in their vision. Their fingers were twined together and Alex rested her head on his shoulder.

"When I came back from my potty break you were in a trance…what happened?" asked Alex

"I had these flashes." said Miles "You weren't with me…and Richard told me you were dead. Then I saw you were dead. I was so scared." Miles reached over to touch her face and kiss her cheek "I love you, Alexandra and I always will."

She smiled at him and caught his hand.

"I love you too, Miles. I'm glad I'm not dead."

I hear your voice

It's like an angel sighing

I have no choice I hear your voice

Feels like flying

I close my eyes

Oh God, I think I'm falling

Out of the sky, I close my eyes

Heaven help me

Author's note:

Sorry it took me forever to write this I got the letter from charlotte done in Istanbul and the rest done last night! I'm home now so hopefully the updates will be faster. This was a slow chapter and I apologize but don't worry there's going to be major action soon. I was listening to the Like a Prayer cover by Rufio while I was writing this, it's amazing DOWLOAD IT. Ok. Thanks for reading.


	7. Lights in the Sky

Author's Note: I know there's a lot of Miles/Alex hold on! There will be lots of other characters really soon! This chapter is mostly fluff and I'm sorry for that but soon there won't be any fluff so enjoy it while it lasts!

The day was ending as it had began, with Alex dancing through the trees just out of Miles' reach. They were both still tripping pretty hard but they didn't want to stay out in the jungle anymore, they were starting to get freaked out and Alex was hungry. They were running full throttle now back to Dharmaville.

"Come on Miles!" she yelled over her shoulder "I'm so hungry! I need Dharma macaroni!" He laughed because macaroni sounded funny to his current state of mind and caught up to her. They were both sweaty and out of breath by the time they reached Dharmaville. They came out of the bushes and tried to walk very discreetly to the cafeteria. Miles felt everyone's eyes on them as they walked by. It was like everyone knew they were tripping. Or maybe they were staring because they were holding hands.

Alex almost tripped over a little kid. She caught his arm to steady him since she almost knocked him down but almost dropped him when she saw his face. He pulled away, muttered a quiet

"Sorry." and ran off. Alex stared after him, dazed. It couldn't be. Oh yes it could and it was.

"Babe?" said Miles "What's the matter?"

"That was my dad."

"That was Ben?" Miles tried to stifle his laughter but he couldn't. He startled giggling hysterically.

"What is so fucking funny, Miles?" she smacked his arm pretty hard, not pleased with his giggling.

"We've been here almost a year. Of course we run into him on the day we're tripping. Come on babe let's get you that macaroni." he took her hand, no longer caring about the restraining order and they walked off towards the cafeteria together.

Sawyer, Juliet, and Charlotte were sitting in the cafeteria together having an after-dinner cup of coffee. Charlotte was bouncing Rome on her lap. He was waving his arms at Juliet and making baby noises. She laughed and let him grab onto her finger.

"He's a strong little guy." She said. Sawyer took a sip of his coffee and put his arm around Juliet.

"He looks just like Daniel in the face, except for those eyes. What a beautiful kid." he said. Charlotte smiled and kissed his head.

"Now if only his daddy would come home and meet him." her face fell, she still missed Daniel terribly. Time didn't heal everything.

"I'm sure Einstein is trying to get us back to the future, he wouldn't be away from y'all unless it was important." said Sawyer. Suddenly, he was distracted by Miles and Alex passing by their table. He had his arm around her waist.

"James," said Juliet. Sawyer wasn't listening. He stood up with enough force to knock his chair over and grabbed Miles' arm.

"Hey!" yelled Miles. He was still messed up from the acid and Sawyer's angry face looked like a demon to him.

"Hey yourself." grumbled Sawyer as he started dragging Miles towards the door "This ends today, Jackie Chan." He pushed Miles out the door and marched him around the back of the building. A small crowd was following them, Alex and Juliet at the front in case Miles ended up needing medical attention. Charlotte stood near the back with Rome on her hip.

Sawyer pushed Miles down in the dirt. He made no move to get back up. Instead, he started giggling. Alex covered her face. Juliet and the rest of the crowd looked on in horror. Sawyer turned to Alex.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"We took acid." she admitted, "Please don't hurt him, Lafleur we're in love."

Miles got up and squared his shoulders, he looked up at Sawyer and started to speak.

"I Don't care about your restraining order anymore. We've been violating it this whole time. I love Alex, and she loves me. If you have a problem with us touching each-" he didn't get a chance to finish because Sawyer sucker-punched him in the jaw. Everyone heard knuckle hit bone and saw Miles hit the ground. Alex and Juliet ran to his side immediately. He was a little disoriented, but luckily he still had all his teeth. Juliet checked his eyes while Alex dabbed blood away with a bandana. He caught her hand and said

"I love you."

"I know baby, you just got your lights knocked out for me." Sawyer had been standing back and watching but now he came forward.

"James-" started Juliet "You've done enough." he placed his hand on her arm and crouched down by Miles.

"It's okay." he said "Miles, restraining order is lifted. You love her and take very good care of her. If you don't, I'll break your fucking face next time are we clear?"

"Yes sir." said Miles

"Oh., and if you ever give Alex drugs again I'll have you cleaning up polar bear shit on Hydra Island, you got me?"

Miles nodded vigorously. Sawyer helped him to his feet and clapped him on the back. He motioned for Charlotte to join them. She walked over with Rome, he squealed with excitement when he saw Alex. He had taken a liking to her, especially to pulling her hair. She laughed as Charlotte struggled to hold onto his wiggling body while he reached for Alex until she just took him.

"All right y'all." said Sawyer " We're gonna throw a party in honor of little Rome here, and the beginning of Miles and Alex's relationship. We need meat, booze, a beer pong table, music, fireworks and somebody tell Jin that Phil is covering his shift tonight. Ok, spread the word, let's go!"

They all went in separate directions to find the supplies for the party. About an hour later a huge crowd had convened in Sawyer and Juliet's back yard. There was a bar with Dharma vodka and coolers stocked with Dharma beer. Sawyer had the grill fired up and he was working with Jin grilling ribs. People were bringing all kinds of little presents for Rome, this was turning into a kind-of birthday party for him. Charlotte thanked all of them graciously but secretly thought about how she couldn't wait to leave.

A karaoke machine had just arrived on the sub and everyone was having a great time with it. Horace actually got up and did a drunken rendition of "Purple Haze". Miles shocked everyone when he sang "Let it Be". As it turns out, Miles has a beautiful singing voice. He nailed every note. Everyone was screaming for an encore when he was finished and he promised he would sing more later. He returned to the beer pong table where Alex had challenged him and Juliet. She had bet she could play by herself and still be standing by the end of the game. So far, she was doing ok. She still had all of her cups and had sunk two of theirs. Juliet bounced and landed one of Alex's.

"Ha! Drink bitch!" she laughed. Alex flipped her the bird and downed the cup.

Jin came over with a plate of ribs and in broken English convinced them all to eat so they wouldn't be puking later. Jin joined Alex's team and they got Miles and Juliet very drunk.

Charlotte came up to Miles and pulled him aside.

"Miles, I was wondering if you would do me a favor." she said

"Anything for you, Char!" he said

"Sing happy birthday to Rome for me? It would be really special." She looked over her shoulder at Rome who was being held by Sawyer.

"Of course, Char."

"And if you could just say a few words about how badly Daniel would like to be here, you know…people are saying he's abandoned us." Miles' face turned hard.

"Don't worry. I got this."

Miles waited for Aimee to finish singing "Take another Piece of my Heart" then he took the mike from her. He sang the most beautiful, perfect version of Happy Birthday. Charlotte stood up near the front with Rome and clapped his little hands when it was over.

"Happy unofficial birthday, little Rome. Your friends and your family love you very much. I know your dad wishes he could be here too and I know he loves and misses you and your mom. Let's pray for his safe return. Goodnight everybody, enjoy the party."

Miles hopped off the little platform and went to find Alex. Charlotte thanked him as he passed. He found Alex at the end of a line of shot glasses. Someone had gotten a little too drunk. He swooped her up in his arms and started carrying her back to her house. They had to stop several times because she couldn't stop kissing him. Before he even knew what was happening they were through her front door, up against a wall, then on the bed and clothes were coming off. Miles tore himself away and looked at Alex. It almost hurt to be close with her like this. That milky white skin, the angle of her hipbones pressing into him, her nails raking down his back. Crap if he didn't stop her now this was really going to happen.

"Alex we should stop." she ignored him completely and he was either too drunk or just didn't want to resist what he was feeling anymore. He was ready to let go and wake up next to the girl he was in love with.

_Dear Daniel, _

_I don't know where you are or what you've been doing but I do know how much time has gone by. It's been three years. No letters, nothing. Three years without a word from you. Our son is three now. That's three birthdays you've missed. And Christmases, Halloweens, his first steps, his first word. He keeps asking me where his daddy is. At first I told him you were on a working trip. Now I have to tell him you aren't coming back. This is the last time I will ever write you and it's only to tell you I don't love you anymore. Don't come back. Don't you dare come back._

_Charlotte._


	8. Mary Jane's Last Dance

**I DO NOT OWN LOST OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

Jin and Miles were on the graveyard shift in the surveillance room tonight. It was a little after two A.M. and they were running out of sources of entertainment. They were playing paper football, it was Jin's turn. He expertly flicked the folder piece of paper through Miles' hands, scoring a point. He held up his hands in victory.

"God damnit, you always win." said Miles. Jin laughed and said

"Lots of practice." Just then, there was a knock on the door. Miles got up to answer it and Alex danced through the threshold, mischief in her eyes. She kissed Miles and sat down in the chair between his and Jin's.

"I thought you boys would be bored right about now, so I decided to bring the party to you." She produced a big, fat, perfectly rolled joint from behind her ear. Jin and Miles instantly cracked smiles.

"I knew something smelled like my dorm room." said Miles, taking the joint from Alex and sparking it up. Since coming to the Dharma Initiative, pot-smoking had become one of their favorite ways to pass the time. Almost everyone in the project smoked, so there was never really a shortage. Sawyer smoked with them occasionally and they had gotten Juliet stoned once and laughed evilly as she demolished an industrial-sized bag of Dharma cookies. Charlotte was the only one that never partook because she spent all of her time caring for Rome. Miles passed the joint to Jin and watched him blow smoke rings.

"You have to teach me how to do that sometime." said Alex in awe. Jin nodded and held out the joint to her. She inhaled and leaned against Miles' shoulder, counting the seconds until they could go home together.

"Miles, shit, shit!" said Jin, pointing to one of the screens. There was a dark figure stumbling around with a bottle near one of the pylons. Miles started fiddling with one of the knobs, zooming in to see who it was.

"Oh god, it's Horace." said Alex. They leaned in closer to see what he was doing. He threw something and there was a bright flash followed by an explosion. "Shit you guys he has dynamite!"

Miles and Jin exchanged glances. Jin nodded to Miles.

"Man, why do I have to go, why don't you go?" asked Miles

"I went last time," said Jin "remember, Christmas party?"

Miles stood and started looking for the keys to his van. This was going to be a long night. Why did Horace have to go blowing up trees while he was high? And since when did hippies blow up trees, it's against their religion. He started walking out with Alex, cursing Jin under his breath. Jin blew out smoke and laughed, glad he wouldn't be partaking in the drama tonight.

"What do you mean Horace is blowing up trees?" growled Sawyer. He zipped up his jumpsuit and walked out to the van with Miles. They had developed a friendship over the three years they had been living in the Dharma Initiative. Miles had more than proved that he was worthy of Alex and Sawyer was trying his best to not be so overprotective of her since she was almost twenty now.

Miles brought him up to speed on what was going on out at the pylons as they drove to Horace's rescue. When they arrived at the place he should have been he was nowhere to be seen and a tree was on fire. They got out of the van and started calling his name. Miles tripped over something and landed on the ground with a thud. He had stumbled over Horace who was passed out on the grass. Sawyer shook his head and helped Miles up.

"Put out the tree and pack up the dynamite," said Sawyer "I'm gonna try to explain this to Aimee."

"Good luck with that." said Miles. He helped Sawyer get Horace off the ground and into the van. Jin came and picked him up in a jeep and they locked the dynamite back up together. It was nearly dawn by the time he made it home and Alex was fast asleep in their bed. He quietly got ready for bed and got under the covers next to her. She rolled over in her sleep and settled her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"I love you." he whispered. That night he dreamed that Benjamin came back and took her away from him. He almost cried from relief when he woke and she was still in his arms, it had only been a dream.

Sawyer and Juliet were curled up in bed together. It was a lazy Saturday morning and they both had the day off. Unfortunately, their bliss was broken by the phone ringing loudly, over and over. Sawyer answered and almost cried out in surprise at what came over the line. He leapt out of bed and started getting dressed.

"James, what is going on?" asked Juliet, watching his almost frantic movements.

"I can't explain right now, I have to go." he flew out the door without another word. Juliet sighed and turned over to go back to sleep. She had a feeling she knew what this was about.

"What do you mean they're back?" asked Charlotte

"Kate, Jack, Hurley, they're back and I have to get this list to check-in before everyone realizes they weren't on the sub." said Juliet. They walked briskly down the path to the rec building where check-in was being held. Charlotte had Rome on her hip and he was softly tugging her long, blonde hair.

"Who, Mommy?" said Rome

"Nobody baby, don't worry." said Charlotte, tousling his messy black hair. He laughed and smiled, the strain in his mother's voice forgotten.

"His talking is really coming along." said Juliet. Charlotte nodded and stopped when they reached the rec building.

"I'll wait for you out here." she said, letting Rome down to stand on his feet. Juliet took a deep breath and walked through the doors. Charlotte sat in the grass with Rome and watched the new recruits mill around. She saw Miles and Alex in the crowd and waved to them. They walked over and sat in the grass next to her.

"Did you hear?" asked Alex.

"Oh, I heard." said Charlotte gravely.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." said Miles

"Please don't say that, Ghostbuster, Jack being back is bad enough." said Charlotte. Miles and Alex laughed, so did Rome. His laughter was like bells, it made you want to laugh. He had picked a handful of yellow flowers from the grass and held them out to Alex.

"For you, Auntie Alex." he said.

"What a little gentleman." she said, accepting the flowers and leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Who is Jack?" he asked. They kept forgetting not to talk around him because he could understand.

"Just an old friend of ours." said Miles "Oh my God, look."

They all immediately looked behind them to see Kate and Juliet coming out of the building. They came and settled in the grass with the group. For a moment they all just stared in silence when Kate broke the ice.

"Is he yours, Charlotte?" she asked, gesturing to Rome.

"The love of my life," said Charlotte "Kate, meet Rome."

He held out his little hand to her and she shook it, smiling.

"He looks just like Daniel." said Kate "He's beautiful."

"You know my daddy?" asked Rome. Her eyes widened in shock. Charlotte glared at her and scooped Rome into her lap.

"We've all known Kate for a very long time." she said.

"Where are Jack and Hurley?" asked Miles.

"Hurley is raiding the barbecue table and Jack is still inside." said Juliet. She noticed that a lot of security staff had showed up in the last five minutes, like they were waiting for something.

"Okay, something is seriously wrong." said Alex "There's no reason for all this security to be here." Then the reason appeared. One of the vans pulled up and Sawyer got out of the front with Jin. They opened the back and pulled someone out. As they came around Juliet realized it was Sayid.

"Can everyone just back up we have a minor security situation." said Sawyer. Alex, Juliet, and Miles exchanged looks.

"This is really bad, isn't it?" asked Kate

"Oh yeah." said Miles "This is bad."

A small crowd had gathered at Alex and Miles' house. Hurley, Kate, and Jin had appeared at their door to talk about the day. They were gathered in the kitchen, Hurley was cooking spaghetti and meat sauce for them. Alex and Miles sat on the counter, bantering back and forth with Hurley. Jin was rolling a joint on the table and Kate watched in amazement.

"Since when are you guys such stoners?" she asked.

"Since joining the Dharma Initiative." said Jin. Today had been rough for him. For a moment he had been given real, solid hope that Sun was back only to have it shot down. She had been on the same plane Kate was on, but somehow the plane wasn't here.

"So, Charlotte's baby," said Hurley "Dan, geeky Dan, is like, the father?"

"Hey geeky Dan isn't geeky anymore," said Alex "Around here he's a major scientist stud." Jin shook with laughter, almost causing the joint to unravel.

"Where is Dan?" asked Kate "I'd love to catch up with him." The mood in the room was instantly brought down.

"He went to work at the main base in Ann Arbor before Rome was born," said Miles "He wrote for awhile but we haven't heard from him in a long time."

"I'm sure he has a good reason," said Hurley, stirring the sauce.

"Ok, smoking circle time." said Jin, holding up the finished joint. Alex and Miles came to sit at the table. Jin made Kate light the joint and take the first hit. They all laughed as she coughed her lungs out. The joint went around and the conversation became lighter, they talked about 70's music and which Dharma dealer sold the best stuff. Kate and Hurley fell right in with their group and it almost became like they had never left. Hurley served them the finished spaghetti and they all praised his cooking. They had almost forgotten the darkness of the day when there was a knock at the door. Miles opened it and Jack entered in a huff. He sat down at the table after everyone greeted him and instantly began ranting about how Sawyer was reading a book instead of busting Sayid out.

"Listen, doc, that's just how Jimbo does things," said Miles "He'll work it out." Then Jack noticed the joint in the ashtray.

"You guys were smoking pot?" he said "Even you, Jin?" Jin looked down guiltily.

"Are you going to narc on us?" asked Alex, causing everyone in the room to break down and giggle. He ignored the giggling and glared around the room at all of them.

"We're in 1977, a whole plane disappeared, Sayid is in lockup, and, eventually we're all going to be gassed and dumped in a pit. No one is making a plan, no one is even worried, you guys are eating spaghetti and smoking weed."

"We let Jim make the plans." said Miles. Jack buried his face in his hands and laid his head on the table.

"Roll one up for me, Jin," he said "I might as well help rearrange chairs on the Titanic." Everyone cheered for him and the smoking party continued. The doctor was finally ready to join them at last.


	9. And We All Have a Hell

**I DO NOT OWN LOST OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

In the three years Sawyer and his group had been living in the Dharma Initiative everything had run very smoothly. Now that the "Oceanic Six" (what a stupid name) were back, all Hell was about to break loose. Sawyer had met with Sayid several times, desperately trying to convince him to play the part of a hostile trying to defect and join them. Sayid refused vehemently, wanting to be released when he knew Sawyer couldn't do that. Sayid didn't have much time left. Today he had been interrogated under truth serum and told Horace the story about the plane. Of course no one believed it but now there was really only one option left : execute him. Horace had called for a meeting tonight but what he didn't know was that there was already a meeting going on in the cafeteria this morning. Almost everyone had gathered at the long table in the back and were talking in hushed tones over Hurley's waffles. Kate, Jack, Juliet and Sawyer were at the heart of the conversation. Jack was furious Sawyer wouldn't bust Sayid out, but what he didn't understand was that if Sawyer was caught he would probably be executed or sent to Ann Arbor. Alex had offered to ask Richard if he could let Sayid stay with the Others for a bit but when Sawyer pitched the idea to Sayid he immediately shot it down. Charlotte listened quietly to the conversation, Rome asleep in her arms. Jin sat next to her, drumming his fingers on the table. They all knew what needed to be said, it was just that no one wanted to say it.

"Okay," said Miles, standing up "This is getting us nowhere. We've done everything possible to help Sayid and he's just spit it back in our faces. He doesn't want to be helped." Alex nodded her agreement.

"We're out you guys, how can you help someone that doesn't want it?" said Alex.

She took Miles' hand and they started walking out together. Jin, Charlotte, and Juliet got up to leave next.

"I can't believe you, Juliet." said Jack "What happened to live together, die alone?"

She turned to face him, eyes flashing. Jack had just struck her last nerve.

"It's still absolutely true, Jack," she countered "Sayid won't live with us, now he's going to die alone."

Jack opened his mouth to respond but they were already walking away very quickly. When he turned back to Sawyer and Hurley they were leaving too.

The air in Miles and Alex's house was tense. Sawyer was at the meeting that would decide Sayid's fate. Their house had become the gathering place for their group, for some reason everyone just went there at night. Probably because Miles got the best pot. For once, Hurley wasn't cooking or eating, he sat at the kitchen table very quietly with his hands folded. Jin sat next to him, rolling up a joint for after they heard the news. If they smoked now they would freak out. Charlotte and Kate sat on one of the couches, talking quietly with Miles and Alex who were sitting on the other one. Aimee was watching Rome and Ethan tonight so Charlotte could have the night off, sometimes she did the same for Aimee. Juliet and Jack were on the front porch talking. It wasn't quite clear what they were saying but from the tone of her voice it sounded like she was scolding him. It seemed like time was stopped in the little house, it was very quiet and still. No matter what happened with Sayid they were all still the best of friends and they would all still have each other. Then, their fragile peace was shattered. They heard the crunch of metal bending and wooden boards snapping. It sounded like someone had wrecked a car into a wall or something. Juliet flung the door open and called for everyone to come help. They poured out of the house and into the courtyard to see the accident. Except it wasn't an accident. Someone had set one of the vans on fire and set it driving straight into one of the barrack buildings. Not a house, one of the female barracks where all of the junior recruits slept. Young girls were spilling out of the back door and windows as the fire spread. Miles and Jin were on their walkies, calling for hoses and security people. Juliet took off for the medical building to get supplies for treating burns and an oxygen canister. Charlotte was rigging up a hose when Alex took it from here and told her to go get Rome. They hugged quickly and Charlotte took off like a shot. Suddenly, there was an explosion on Alex's side of the building and she was blinded by the smoke. Shrapnel buffeted her, scratching her arms as she held them up to protect her face. There was another explosion and She felt a hot, searing pain in her left thigh, then she blacked out.

Kate had gotten a hose on the other side working when she heard banging on one of the windows, girls were still trapped inside. She handed the hose off to someone else and ran up to the window. She couldn't get it open by herself and yelled for help. Jack appeared at her side with an axe and used the handle to bust the window out. They helped the women that were trapped in that room climb out of the window and make their way over to Juliet. She had set up a medical station on one of the golf carts. Jack went to work helping her treat burns. Kate sat on the ground and held her head in her hands, it throbbed from the smoke. The fire continued to blaze as Sawyer's security fought it with water. Miles and Jin had come to sit with Kate, exhausted from breathing in smoke and helping the injured. Miles looked up and Saw Sawyer walking towards them, he was carrying someone in his arms. He leapt to his feet when he realized it was Alex. He was at her side in seconds. There was a big piece of glass in her thigh and her eyes were closed. Sawyer spoke before Miles could freak out.

"Don't worry, Kung-fu Hustle she's gonna be fine," said Sawyer "Alex, sweetheart, talk to me."

She opened her eyes for a moment and looked at both of them. She held her hand out for Miles, he took it, careful of the little pieces of glass in her skin.

"I love you guys," she said "We never got to smoke that joint."

Miles and Sawyer laughed, glad that Alex was clearly going to be ok.

"We love you too, Xena, our warrior princess." said Miles.

Juliet had Jack stay at the fire and help while she took Alex and Miles over to the medical building in the golf cart. She cleaned Alex's wounds very carefully, she was very lucky she only had one little burn on her hand and the scratches on her arms weren't deep. The piece of glass in her thigh was another story though. It was very, very deep and stuck straight in. Alex said that she couldn't even feel it which wasn't a good thing. She gave Alex some morphine tablets to take for the pain and told her to lay back. They talked for half an hour, waiting for Alex to start nodding out from the morphine. Juliet gave her a quick lidocaine injection to numb the skin and pulled the glass out as painlessly as she could. Alex screamed and help Miles' hand as Juliet stitched up the wound and bandaged it. It was very late by the time they got home but everyone was still there waiting to see Alex. Charlotte hugged her tight as soon as she walked through the door. Rome toddled across the room and hugged her leg. She crouched down and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for staying up so late for me." she said. He yawned a big, sleepy yawn.

"He couldn't sleep until he knew his Auntie Alex was ok." said Charlotte. She gathered Rome in her arms and kissed Alex's cheek goodbye.

After that they had the traditional smoking circle. Hurley started filling Alex in on everything she had missed. Jin and Sawyer couldn't be there because they were out looking for Sayid, who had escape. It was looking like the bus had been a distraction so Sayid could escape. At first everyone thought it was Jack but he had been with Kate when it happened. They traded theories and passed the joint around, talking and laughing. Alex was still soaring from the morphine. She was sitting on the couch next to Juliet when she decided to fall over into her lap and wrap her in a big hug. Juliet laughed and held Alex in her arms, absentmindedly running a hand through her hair.

"I loves you, Juliet." Alex mumbled

"I love you too, sweetheart." said Juliet

"I miss my mom," said Alex "Could you be, like, my stand-in mom?"

Everyone in the room awwwe'd simultaneously. Juliet smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Of course baby, as stand-in mom I think it's your bedtime."

Alex nodded dreamily. She said goodnight to everyone and Miles put her in their big bed. He kissed her goodnight and came back out into the living room. Everyone was saying their goodnights. He thanked Juliet for taking such good care of Alex and hugged her goodnight. She left with Kate. Finally, he could sleep. He got in the shower first and washed the fire off of him. Then he climbed in bed with Alex and fell into a peaceful sleep.

There was a banging at Juliet's door. It had to be six in the morning. She answered it in her bathrobe and slippers, it was Jin.

"You have to come, now," he said "Be ready to operate."

Juliet didn't waste time asking questions. She dressed in jeans and sneakers and ran down the path to the medical building with Jin. Sawyer was waiting inside. He brought her up to speed on the situation as she scrubbed her hands vigorously and tied up her gown.

She walked into the operating room and went to work trying to save little Benjamin Linus' life. What kind of animal would shoot a kid? Was Sayid really capable of this? Alex is going to lose it when she wakes up and hears about this. Then Juliet saw where the bullet was and the damage it had done. She couldn't fix this. She needed a real surgeon. This kid was going to bleed out.


	10. Where's My Angel?

Author's note: There are going to be some special guest stars from another show in the next chapter, you should be very excited. Don't worry about Daniel he'll be back very, very soon. This story is about to go waaaay off course from the show so be prepared. I don't know if you guys are ready for this chapter but I'm giving it to ya anyways ;) If you read this PLEASE PLEASE leave me a review, reviews are like oxygen for my writing. The more I get the faster there will be another chapter.

How do you guys feel about me carrying this story on into season 6? Let me know because it very well might happen. Love all of you and I hope your ready for this!

Miles' peaceful sleep was shattered by Sawyer's voice filtering through the walkie on his nightstand. Alex was still slumbering from the morphine Juliet had given her the night before. He answered it and found out that he was to report to the medical building immediately. He dressed quickly and kissed Alex goodbye without waking her. He had the feeling that a shit storm was brewing, he just didn't know why yet. Sawyer and Jin were standing outside when he arrived. Their faces were grim.

"What's going on, boss?" asked Miles. Sawyer couldn't look him in the eye.

"Sayid shot little Benjamin Linus last night." said Sawyer. Miles didn't speak for a moment. Sawyer knew he was thinking of Alex.

"Is he dead?"

"Not yet. Juliet is working to save his life." Miles didn't ask how he was doing. He didn't want to know.

"What do you need me to do?" asked Miles

"Get Kate, Jack, and Hurley. Keep them under house arrest. No one leaves until I say they do."

"You got it." said Miles. He headed off in the direction of the house Jack and Hurley shared. As it turned out, they weren't happy about the house arrest. Not at all. When he went to get Kate she bounced past him and took off for the medical building. He threw up his hands in defeat and went back to Jack and Hurley's house. Yup, it was a shit storm alright.

Kate, Jin, and Sawyer were standing outside the medical building talking.

"It seems like we spend all of our time standing out here, worrying about whoever's inside." said Sawyer. Jin nodded his agreement. He had been very quiet since he brought Ben back from the jungle. Seeing a child with a bullet in his chest can have that affect. Alex hadn't showed up yet. Sawyer hoped she would sleep for a few more hours. He wasn't sure how she would take this, whether she would be relieved or heartbroken. Daniel would have been useful at a time like this to tell them whether or not Ben would cease to exist in the future. His thoughts were scattered by Juliet bursting through the doors. Her face had the look if someone that had been fighting death himself. Her scrubs were bloody. She pulled down her mask and shook her head.

"He's stable but not for long. He needs a real surgeon. I can't help him."

"How can he die? He's alive in the future." said Sawyer

"He's dying, James." said Juliet "He's going to bleed out."

He took a moment to absorb her words then he started to walk away from them.

"Come on, Freckles." he called over his shoulder.

Juliet and Jin didn't bother asking where they were going. They already knew.

"Will you do the surgery if I shoot you in the leg?" Miles yelled it, pointing his rifle at Jack. Jack's poker face didn't even twitch.

"Stop it, Miles that won't get us anywhere." said Kate, pushing the barrel of his gun down and away from Jack. Sawyer and Kate pleaded with Jack, begging him to save little Ben's life. He flatly refused. He said he wouldn't save Ben's life again. Even Hurley joined in trying to persuade him. Jack's answer never changed,

"How could you just let a kid die?" Kate asked, her voice barely audible.

"That's not a kid on that table, it's Benjamin Linus." Jack replied stubbornly. Miles almost punched him, knowing the pain this would cause Alex but Kate pulled him away. They left Jack alone. Hurley went to the kitchens, everyone else headed back to the medical building.

When they arrived Juliet was looking for a blood donor to give Ben a transfusion. Kate volunteered. Juliet cleared the interns and nurses out of the room and started gathering the supplies she would need. Kate, Jack, and Miles sat in silence, praying to any deity that might be listening for Ben's life. Jin was outside making sure no one else came in, not even Ben's father. They needed a plan. They needed a plan really fast because the clock was ticking on Ben's life. Juliet set up the needles and the tube and got the transfusion started. Kate grinned bravely as Juliet stuck the needle in her arm. It's a good thing Juliet has nerves of steel because at that precise moment the doors banged open and Alex came screeching into the room. If Juliet had jumped she could have hit a nerve in Kate's arm and that would have been really ugly. Alex knelt by the bed and placed her hand on Ben's. She sat there in silence, unable to cry. This went on for about fifteen minutes. No one in the room spoke or moved, it was silent as a grave. Finally, Alex stood up, her mouth was set in a firm line of determination.

"We have to take him to Richard." she said evenly.

"You're absolutely right." said Juliet

"What can Richard do that a doctor can't?" asked Miles curiously .

Juliet and Alex ignored him.

"You'll have to take him," said Juliet "I'll stay and talk to his father."

Kate interrupted them abruptly.

"Alex, you can't go on your own." said Kate. Alex didn't protest. She needed all the backup she could get. They discussed logistics for a few minutes, who would stay and who would go. Sawyer and Miles left for the surveillance room, they had to make sure no one else was on shift. Kate snuck over to the motor pool and drove a van around the back of the medical building. Juliet and Alex moved Ben onto a gurney and rolled him out the back doors. Kate hopped out of the driver's seat and helped them transfer Ben from the gurney to the back of the van.

"I'll give you as much of a head start as I can." said Juliet. Alex nodded gravely and climbed in the passenger side of the van. Kate drove them on the back roads, avoiding being seen by as many people as possible. Alex didn't speak.

"Alex, it's going to be ok." said Kate. Then she seriously reconsidered her words when she saw Alex ball her hands into fists.

"The twelve-year-old version of my father is bleeding out in the back seat. Everything is not fucking okay." snapped Alex. Kate wisely chose not to respond. The rest of the drive was silent. When they arrived at the pylons Alex discovered the code for the fence wasn't the same it had been when she had lived there before. She cursed and kicked one of the van's tires. Kate was about to run all the way to the barracks and back when they saw a van on the horizon.

"This is either really good, or really bad." said Kate. When the van got closer they saw it was Sawyer. He parked next to them and came to stand by Alex.

"You guys need the code for the fence?" he asked.

"Yes," said Alex "Are you here to stop us?"

"Technically, I'm supposed to be looking for the kid."

"Are you or aren't you, Sawyer?" Alex raised her voice when she got irritated. Ben's time was running out. He didn't respond, instead he punched the code into the fence. "All right then, let's move."

Alex wrapped Ben in a blanket and Sawyer volunteered to carry him, they would move faster that way. Kate used Sawyer's walkie to call Miles and tell him which tapes needed to be magically erased. They started their progress into the jungle, following a fresh trail that Alex picked up.

Juliet stormed into Jack and Hurley's living room. Unfortunately, her entrance wasn't very dramatic because no one saw it. No one was in the living room and someone was in the shower. _Please don't be Hurley, please don't be Hurley _thought Juliet as she opened the door to the bathroom.

"Get out Hurley!" It was Jack.

"It's not Hurley," Juliet leaned up against the wall "I needed you today."

"Juliet?" Jack's arm reached out for a towel but Juliet snatched it first. He was going to have to have this conversation with his genitals all shriveled up and tiny. "Juliet this isn't funny." He wouldn't step out from behind the shower curtain. She was thoroughly enjoying the humiliation that was rolling off of him in waves.

"I needed you the way that one doctor needs another and you weren't there for me."

"I already operated on Benjamin Linus to save his life, I wasn't about to make the same mis-" Jack was cut off because Juliet slapped him.

"Did you swear by the same oath that I did?" Juliet was trying not to yell "What happened to do no harm? You used to stand for everything that was pure and good on this island, you did the right thing even if it meant you might die trying!"

His face reminded her of one of those marble angel statues from the Renaissance. Sure, they were beautiful but they were still cold, unfeeling, marble. She threw his towel on the wet floor and left without another word. There was nothing more she could do here.

Alex, Sawyer, and Kate didn't have to follow the trail for very long. Someone yelled

"Stop right there!" from the trees. They heard the clicking of at least two guns. Alex flinched, she was still gun-shy. Kate squared her shoulders and turned to face one of the men that came out of the jungle. There were three of them and they were definitely Others. One of them was actually cute, Kate noticed. He had skin like chocolate milk and blue eyes with long, wavy golden-brown hair. He held his gun down when he noticed Ben. The other two weren't so friendly.

"You're over the line, we're taking you to Richard." said one of the mean ones, he had really bad teeth.

"What a coincidence, we were taking this kid to Richard." said Sawyer

"Why?" asked Bad Teeth

"He's been shot, dumbass," Alex had to stop herself from screaming "Let's go!" The Others made their group walk in front so they couldn't run without being shot at point blank. The cute one stepped forward to walk with Kate.

"You bring injured kids into the jungle often?" he flashed a brilliant smile. She couldn't stop herself from smiling back.

"No, this is the first time." she replied

"May I ask who I'm holding hostage for invading my turf?"

"I'm Kate. May I ask who my captor is?" Her heart was pounding.

"Angelo, or Angel for short, you know if those hippies ever give you some time off-" Bad teeth cut him off.

"Angelo, stop verbally fornicating and get back here!"

He grinned at Kate again and dropped back. The rest of the walk was silent except for Ben coughing blood onto Sawyer's jumpsuit. The jungle opened up into a clearing where Richard was waiting for them. He closed the distance between them and looked Ben over without speaking.

"Spread out that blanket, let's lay him down." said Richard. Kate helped Sawyer gently lower Ben to the ground.

"Richard, they were over the line." said Bad Teeth

"Get lost," snapped Richard. Angel and the Other two turned to leave. "Not you Angel, I'm going to need you."

Angel smirked at his companions as they skulked off. Richard had produced a stethoscope from his pack and was kneeling next to Ben, listening to his chest. Alex knelt next to him and waited for him to stop listening.

"Can you heal him?" she asked.

"I can't," said Richard "But I know someone that can."

"What are you waiting for?" Alex could cry now, the tears were streaming down her face. It was like a knife in Richard's heart. He wanted to gather her in his arms and hold her so she never had to cry again. How could he feel this way about someone he only saw a few times a year? Suddenly, he felt light-headed. The way he felt when one of those memories of her was about to hit him. Could he really call it a memory if it hadn't happened yet?

_He was at the temple, the safe haven for his people. It wasn't safe anymore, though. There were bodies scattered all over the courtyard. Some of them were children. Richard walked up the temple steps and through the first room into a hallway. He knew there was something horrible waiting for him in the pool room. He walked into the pool room very, very slowly. He was relieved when he saw that there wasn't anyone floating in the pool. He didn't see her until he turned around. Alex's lifeless body lay on the floor next to a bloody knife. Her eyes were closed. Someone she knew had killed her. It had to be someone she knew. Richard knelt and collected her in his arms. It agonized him that she had probably only been dead a few hours, that he had just missed her killer. Tears stung his eyes as he carried her outside. He had to lay her to rest, the temple seemed fitting. When he came back outside there was another man inspecting the courtyard, an Asian man Richard had never met before. He looked up._

"_What happened?" he screamed, running towards Richard "Oh my God Alex, what happened?" He knew she was dead the moment Richard walked outside. Her body didn't just call out to him, she screamed her story. He fell to his knees and clutched his head until it became a whisper. Richard left him like that for a moment. He laid Alex down and covered her with the blanket from his pack. Then he came back and sat by the man._

"_What happened?" asked Richard_

"_She was killed protecting the temple. Jacob gave her the ability to keep Locke out and he had Sayid kill her." said Miles "I loved her so much, I know you loved her too man. I know she never wanted to hurt either of us and that's why she did what she did."_

"_What are you talking about?" asked Richard_

"Richard! What are you waiting for?" Alex's voice. Richard was pulled back to the clearing in the jungle where 12-year-old Ben was bleeding out right in front of him.

"You should know he'll lose his innocence and he'll always be one of us."

"So will I," said Alex without hesitation "Do it." Richard nodded to his protégé.

"Angel, help me get him to the temple."

"I got him, boss." Angel scooped up Ben, winked at Kate, and took off walking as fast as he could without jostling Ben. Richard and Alex stood looking at each other for a moment. Richard reached out to cup her cheek and kissed her forehead.

"He'll be fine, go get some rest."

Alex thanked him and she left with Sawyer and Kate. They didn't speak on the journey back. Not one of them spoke until they walked in Jack's front door and announced that they'd saved Ben's life. Hurley, Juliet, Jin, and Charlotte cheered. Jack remained unmoved, like stone.


	11. Crimes of the Heart

**Author's note: The action is going to build from this point on. I don't know about you guys but I'm getting kind of nervous there hasn't really been any character death. Who's it gonna be? Juliet? Kate? Daniel? Alex? Mwhahaha **

**Jackdown = jack meltdown**

_Jacob looked down at the man Richard and Alex had brought to him. He had been wounded fatally and would die within the hour. This was the first time he and Alex met face-to-face but he had been watching her for years. She was a Canidate and he had also been grooming her to lead his people one day. If she lived that long._

"_I can't keep changing what's supposed to happen," said Jacob "This is the second one, people die, Alex."_

"_We need him," said Richard "He's crucial to our plan."_

_The pain that was radiating from Alex affected Jacob, he looked away hoping they wouldn't notice._

"_I can ease his suffering." Jacob offered. Alex dug her nails into her palms._

"_Richard, let me talk to Jacob alone." said Alex. Richard shook his head._

"_Now I'm interested," said Jacob "Give us a moment, Richard." _

_He shot Jacob a black look and walked out of Jacob's room in the statue. Why did he have the feeling Alex was about to trade her life for the dying man's?_

_Jacob sat in his rocking chair and rested his chin on a fist, the thinker's pose. He waited for her to speak. _

"_I'll work for you," she said "Couldn't you use another Richard?"_

_He shook his head sadly and ran a hand through his tousled hair._

"_Alex, do you have any idea what your getting yourself into?"_

_She swallowed the fear in her throat and nodded. Jacob asked her if she was sure ten times more and she said yes each time. _

"_Very well," said Jacob. He knelt by her dying friend and pressed a hand to his forehead. The man instantly fell into a healing sleep. "He'll be fine, come back for him in a few hours."_

"_Thank you." said Alex._

"_Don't thank me yet," said Jacob "Someone is trying to kill me, and if they succeed you are to go to the temple and guard our people with your life. That's your job." _

_He touched her cheek then turned his back to her so she couldn't see the guilt on his face. _

"_You'll be able to keep the bad things out now." She didn't quite understand but she nodded anyway and walked outside where Richard was waiting for her. She fell into his arms without speaking. She couldn't tell him about being a temple guardian, she couldn't tell anyone. Not until she had to. Besides, Jacob had been alive for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, what are the chances that he'd die during her lifetime?_

The barracks were chaotic while Sawyer's security searched for Ben. More than anything he wanted to tell them that Ben was fine, but that would involve explaining time-travel. They searched houses and combed the jungle but Benjamin Linus was nowhere to be found. His father, Roger Linus was a mess. When he wasn't drunkenly performing his custodial duties he would just drink in his house. Sometimes he would drink on the porch and yell insults at everyone that walked by. Sawyer could see this because their houses were right across from each other. Sawyer suspected he felt guilty about being a terrible father but he wasn't about to meddle. He stood by a window in his house, deep in thought. Juliet was working, either fixing a car or performing open heart surgery. Who knew these days? Since the ones that left had come back things had been different. Everything was serious now, every day that went by was like a clock counting down. He just didn't know what the clock was counting down to. He thought back to the early days, the days they spent dodging flaming arrows and running through the jungle screaming. Juliet, Daniel, Charlotte, Miles, Alex, and himself. First there was Juliet. He loved her more than life itself with every day that went by. He didn't know how he could ever live without her. He never thought he would call Daniel family. He never could have predicted little Rome's laughter filling his house when helped baby-sit. Who knew Charlotte would settle down and raise a baby? Alex had grown from being so terribly wounded, she was one of the strongest women Sawyer knew. He laughed a little bit to himself as he thought of the day he punched Miles in the face for violating his restraining order. All those late-night smoking sessions with Jin in the surveillance room. The three of them were never in the same room at the same time anymore.

Things were going to be different now. He could feel it. Suddenly, he spotted Charlotte's bright, platinum hair coming toward his house. She was running and Rome was crying his eyes out. _This is wrong. Something is really, really wrong _he thought as he opened the door to meet her outside. He had her repeat what she said several times, just to make sure he understood correctly.

**15 minutes earlier**

Alex and Miles sat in the cafeteria with Charlotte, Rome, and Kate. Their conversation wasn't anything out of the ordinary, the weather, time-travel, Kate's new boyfriend. Miles interrogated her mercilessly about her frequent jungle excursions but she managed to brush him off without an eyebrow being raised. Alex decided to go with a different plan of attack.

"I can't believe you aren't shacked up with Jack yet." said Alex, stabbing her jello with a fork. Kate wrinkled her nose.

"Please don't talk about past mistakes that I've made while I'm trying to eat." said Kate.

"Or future ones." said Charlotte.

"No way, Char," said Alex "You should see this Angel guy, I approve."

"Well if you approve of Kate's new boyfriend, I approve." said Charlotte "Talk about something else here comes the cloud of impending doom."

Jack had entered the cafeteria and was coming to sit with them. He took the empty seat next to Kate and looked around at their faces. _Why are they smiling at me like that? It's really creepy _he thought.

"So, what's up you guys?" asked Jack.

Rome let out a little squeal and yelled

"Auntie Kate has a boyfriend!" Charlotte covered his mouth because the next words to come out would be 'Angel is hot!'

"See what happens when you joke around your kids?" said Miles. The last thing they needed right now was another Jackdown. Jack laughed like it was funny but Kate knew she was bound to catch hell from him later.

Someone tapped Charlotte on the shoulder. When she turned around she saw a kid standing behind her. He was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up, which was odd because the island is so frigging hot. That was how she knew something was wrong.

"You need to leave," he said very quietly "Leave right now, go."

She didn't ask questions. Without a word she gathered Rome in her arms and left the table. She was almost out the door when it happened. First one shot, then another. She ran straight for Sawyer's house. _Please God, _she thought _if you exist, please protect my _

_friends._

Sawyer stood outside the cafeteria. His entire security crew stood with him. Except for Miles, who was inside the cafeteria being help at gunpoint. There was no way to know what was going on in there, Miles didn't have his walkie and there weren't any other security personnel inside. The people sitting closest to the door had been able to bolt after the first shot was fired but at least a dozen people were trapped inside, including his friends. He was waiting for Horace to get there, to help him make decisions. Most of the people that escaped had told him that it was a kid holding everyone hostage, only one of them was able to identify him. It was Benjamin Linus. He really hoped he wouldn't regret helping save Ben's life. He spotted the medical golf cart driving across the compound towards him. Juliet was driving and Horace was with her. He really hadn't wanted Juliet to know about this until it was over but what could he do now? They hopped out of the golf cart and came to stand with him.

"What do we know?" asked Horace.

"Not much," replied Sawyer "Little Ben just shows up, fires two warning shots, and from the looks of it he's holding about a dozen people hostage."

"So what do we do?" asked Juliet.

"We wait." said Sawyer.

They didn't have to wait long. The front door opened and a man in a gardener's uniform walked outside. He looked very shaken up. After he calmed down he was able to explain the situation. Ben wanted a walkie-talkie so he could talk with Horace. Jin volunteered to be the one to take it in to him.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Sawyer. Jin nodded solemnly. He gave Juliet his rifle and walked towards the door without another word. His heart pounded in his ears as he opened it.

"I have your walkie!" he yelled before opening it all the way "I'm coming in now."

He stepped over the threshold and let the door close behind him. Little Benjamin Linus walked towards him, gun pointed to his head and hand outstretched. Jin gave him the walkie and stood perfectly still, waiting for instruction.

"Leave," said Ben "Don't try anything."

Jin held his hands up and backed out the door. He had seen his friends lined up against the back wall. If this got ugly they would be sitting ducks. There was no cover in that big, open room. He walked back to Horace, Juliet, and Sawyer.

"Well?" said Horace. He didn't have time to respond before a voice came filtering through Sawyer's walkie.

"I'd like to speak with Horace," it said. Horace took the walkie and listened to Ben's demands. All he wanted was for his father to be sent in, then he would let everyone go. It seemed like a simple demand, except Roger Linus was nowhere to be found.

Alex, Kate, and Miles sat huddled together with Jack next to them. He seemed to be deep in thought. It had been almost two hours and Sawyer still hadn't found Ben's father. It seemed Ben had encountered the same problem when he came back and that was why he decided to do this in the first place. He knew if anyone saw him while he was searching there would be questions and then he wouldn't be able to leave again. All he wanted was for this to be over. He hadn't shot anyone yet but he'd fired plenty of warning shots and had a pocket full of bullets. One of the women he was holding was crying, an Asian man was comforting her. There was something about her face, she seemed so familiar to him. He called Horace again to find out if that had found his father and that was when it happened. A man in a janitor's uniform lunged for him. Ben was no match for him but as they struggled the gun fired. The man fell back, blood blossoming from a bullet hole in his right leg. Chaos ensued. While Ben stood staring in horror at what he'd done, several people got up and ran. When he gathered his nerve he pointed his gun at the remaining people on the wall.

"Do not move," he said, watching Jack writhe in pain. He went to stand by the cafeteria door but kept his gun trained on them.

Miles gave Kate his undershirt to staunch the bleeding from Jack's bullet wound. None of them spoke. Alex had her head in her hands, wondering why her father was capable of nothing but hurting her. She heard noise coming from the walkie, she wondered if they had his father. She didn't have to wonder for long because the door opened for the final time and Roger Linus stumbled in, looking as if he'd woken from a big drunk. He smiled when he saw Ben.

"Benjamin," he said "I was so worried I-" he didn't get to finish his sentence because Ben shot him in the chest. Alex and Kate held onto each other and squeezed their eyes shut as two more bullets were fired. Then the door opened and Ben was gone.

Sawyer's men wanted to grab Ben the moment he walked outside but he told them to stay back. There would be no point in holding him. What were they going to do? Execute him? Give him jail time? They made sure he had disappeared into the jungle before rushing inside.

_What a day _thought Sawyer.

Everyone had gathered at Miles and Alex's house that night. Except for Charlotte, of course. Now that it was over they were able to laugh and joke, to draw comfort from each other. Juliet teased Jack about how he screamed like a girl when she pulled the bullet out of his leg. Jin rolled a joint and everyone smoked. There was a knock on the door and Alex went to answer it. She almost fainted from how surprised she was at who was standing on her porch. It was Richard and Angel. She called for Kate to come outside and shut the door very quickly so no one else would see the Others on her porch. Angel flashed his pirate smile at Kate and they sat close together on the steps, talking quietly. Alex grabbed Richard by the arm and dragged him around the side of the house so they could talk privately.

"You can't just waltz in here like this," she said "Remember that truce you made?"

He smiled like her words were amusing. He placed his hands on her shoulders, like he really wanted her to listen to him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, looking her over like he was checking for injuries.

"No I'm fine," she said "Did he come back?"

"Yes, Ben came back," said Richard "He told us he wanted to go home, I had no idea he stole a gun."

"No matter what I do, all he does is hurt people." the truth of her words cut into her heart like a hot knife. Tears streamed down her face and she started to turn away but Richard pulled her into his chest and held her while she cried.

"I hate seeing you in pain," he said "I would do anything to take it away."

When she looked up into his eyes she realized she knew the way he was looking at her. It was the same way Miles looked at her. He touched her cheek and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His hands were warm and strong. She leaned into the kiss without thinking. It was like it was meant to happen. She tore herself away from him and shook her head.

"I won't do this." she said. She turned and walked back to the front of the house. When she turned around Richard had already melted back into the jungle. Kate and Angel were deep in conversation, they were holding hands and she was smiling brightly. When Alex went to open the door it swung open. Jack was standing there with his crutch. _Oh no _thought Alex. Kate and Angel stood up as Jack hobbled outside.

"Who is this, Kate?" said Jack. Alex dodged inside. This was not her problem.

"Oh so this is Jack," said Angel "Pleased to meet you, mate."

Jack did not look pleased. Angel gave Kate a hug and a kiss on the cheek before taking off. Jack had looked ready to beat him with his crutch.

"I'm not going to talk about it," said Kate "So don't ask."

She walked inside and went to sit with Alex. _Please God no more drama today! _she thought.

_Charlotte was dreaming. She had to be because she was out in the jungle with Martin Keamy. He was still wearing his body armor. They had been friends a long time ago, and she had felt pain after his death but he was going to kill so many people. He had to die. They were sitting by the waterfall, listening to the crickets._

"_Why did you let them kill me, Charlotte?" he asked_

"_You know I wasn't there when it happened. There was nothing I could have done." she replied._

_They sat in silence for a moment , then he spoke again._

"_I want to move on, Charlotte," he said "Into the afterlife, but I need your help. Will you help me?"_

"_Yes, I'll help you." she said. He stood and held his hand out to her._

"_Then come with me."_

_She took his hand and they walked into the jungle together. It was only a dream anyway. _


	12. Welcome to the Jungle

Juliet held Rome close and tried to quiet his screams. He had been left alone in Charlotte's house for almost a full day. She had fed and bathed him but he was still scared out of his mind. Sawyer, Jin, and Miles were combing the jungle, desperately searching for Charlotte. Alex had gone to the Other's camp to enlist Richard and Angel's help. Jack was covering for Juliet at the medical station so she could care for Rome. Kate had opted to stay with Juliet, she was heating up a bottle of milk for Rome. He didn't need it anymore but they thought it might soothe him. He cried for what seemed like hours, he kept asking for his mommy. Juliet and Kate took turns holding him and singing to him. He finally fell asleep in Kate's arms and they tucked him in his little bed.

They sat out in the living room, trading theories about where Charlotte had gone. They couldn't find any reason for her to leave her baby. Rome slept for several hours, he had worn himself out crying. Sawyer and Miles returned empty-handed. Jin was in the surveillance room checking the cameras.

"I don't know where she would go," said Sawyer "Why would she leave Rome?"

"She wouldn't," said Juliet "Something must have happened."

"What could have happened?" asked Miles "Who would want to hurt Charlotte?"

Before anyone could respond there was a knock at the door. Miles looked out the peephole.

"Why are there Vikings on Charlotte's front porch?" asked Miles.

"Just open the door!" barked Sawyer. Miles shook his head incredulously and opened the door. There were two very tall, very blonde people standing on the front porch. The man was over six feet tall with short hair and bright blue eyes and the woman had long hair in a ponytail and blue-gray eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Miles. The man looked over his shoulder and stepped aside. Daniel was standing behind him. He looked different, more confident. His face was clean-shaven and he was wearing a white lab coat. Miles was speechless.

"It's ok Miles, you don't have to invite me in it's my house." said Daniel. Miles moved aside so Daniel and the Vikings could enter. Sawyer rounded on Daniel before he could speak.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he was trying not to yell and wake Rome "You couldn't write to Charlotte? You couldn't come see your baby? Three fucking years, Dan!"

Daniel squared his shoulders and faced Sawyer, it was the old days all over again except they weren't running through the jungle.

"They moved me to some secret base underground, they shot me up with tranquilizers and I wake up and they're telling me I have to stay until I finish some project their slack scientists couldn't complete, the mail man doesn't come underground I'm sorry!"

Sawyer backed down, realizing the three years were out of Daniel's hands.

"Who are they?" Juliet asked, gesturing to the Vikings. Daniel smiled.

"Dr. Northman and his assistant, Pam were working with me, they are the people that are going to help us get back where we came from." he said.

"You told them about the time-travel?" asked Miles.

"Back in Sweden I spent most of my life studying Physics and how they equate with space-time." said Northman.

"How exactly are you going to move us through time, Dr. Northman?" asked Juliet.

"Please, call me Eric." he said.

"Listen, you guys chat, fill them in on the plan I really want to see Charlotte and the baby." said Daniel.

Everyone in the room seemed to simultaneously stare at the floor.

"What is it?" asked Daniel "Where is she? Did she move in with another guy?"

"No." said Miles.

"Then why do all of you look like somebody died?"

Pam and Eric exchanged looks.

"We're going to the cafeteria, anyone care to join?" asked Pam.

Sawyer, Miles, and Kate followed them out the door, leaving Daniel with Juliet.

"What is going on, Juliet?" he was really worried now.

"She disappeared sometime last night, Dan." why did she have to be the one to tell him?

"What do you mean, she disappeared?"

"Kate came by the house earlier, and she heard Rome crying. He was here alone. We've been looking everywhere, Alex is out with Richard right now but we can't find her."

Daniel buried his face in his hands.

"I never should have left her, I was selfish and proud and I never should have left," a tear streamed down his cheek and he wiped it away "Can I see him?"

Juliet smiled.

"He's so beautiful, Daniel, he looks just like you," said Juliet "I'll go wake him up, you being here will be a great comfort to him."

Juliet walked back into one of the rooms for a few minutes and came back out with Rome in her arms. He was wide awake, blue eyes staring intensely at Daniel. He couldn't believe the resemblance, the messy black hair and his face. Charlotte's eyes bored into his soul.

"Are you my daddy?" he asked Daniel. His voice was almost musical, like bells.

"I am." replied Daniel, on the verge of tears.

Rome reached for him and Daniel took his son in his arms for the first time. Juliet slipped out the door quietly, she thought they should have time alone.

"Will you stay?" asked Rome. Daniel sat on the sofa and ran his fingers through Rome's hair.

"I'll stay forever, I promise," said Daniel "Your dad will always be here for you."

Rome hugged him fiercely and asked for a story, so Daniel told him a story about scientists in an underground lair.

Alex and Richard made their way through the jungle, following a faint trail they had picked up. It could be anyone's, they just knew it wasn't an Other's. Angel had split off from them, headed for the beach.

"Are we ever going to talk about that kiss?" asked Richard. Alex couldn't look at him.

"No, we aren't going to talk about it because I'm going to pretend like it didn't happen." she snapped. She immediately regretted her words. She knew she had hurt Richard, she could feel it radiating from him. Their souls were connected across space and time and she knew it. He had loved her back in 2004 and he loved her now in 1975 . He didn't even know who she was the first time he saw her but he said he was starting to remember things. Rather, he was having visions of the future. He said that he had more every time he saw her. It looked like he was having one right now because he had stopped walking and was staring off into space.

_It was dark and rainy, everything was muddy. Richard was standing in the jungle not far from the barracks with a group of people. He recognized a few of them. Alex, Ben, the Asian man from the temple who he had come to know as Miles. There was a tall, blonde man with blue eyes and a girl with long blonde hair and a baby. There was also a fat man with curly brown hair and a bald man standing off to the side. It seemed there was an argument taking place. Richard stood by Alex with his arms crossed, not caring about the survivor's squabbles. The blonde man, Sawyer, was yelling at the bald man, John Locke._

"_You got half of our people killed, you son of a bitch," then he rounded on Ben "And you, Gizmo, almost got your sixteen-year-old daughter killed to save yourself!"_

_This caught Richard's attention. He turned on Ben._

"_What?" he said "What the hell happened, Ben?"_

"_James is exaggerating." said Ben._

"_Like hell I am," said Sawyer "Those mercenaries captured Alex in the jungle, killed her mother and Karl in cold blood. They killed half our people and held Alex at gunpoint outside Ben's house. The deal was they would kill her if he didn't come outside. Me and Miles here had to put a gun to his head to get him outside!" Sawyer's face was dark with rage "John Locke over there summoned the smoke monster and he was able to escape, little weasel that he is." _

_Richard touched Alex's cheek._

"_Is this true?" he asked. Alex nodded, a tear ran down her cheek. Richard turned back to Ben._

"_We need to talk." he said. He grabbed Ben's shirt and marched him off into the trees. Ben turned and opened his mouth to speak but Richard cocked his arm back and punched him square in the mouth before he could get a word out. Ben crumbled to the ground and Richard crouched down so Ben could hear him. _

"_You let her go," Richard said "I did not put in all those years helping raise her to watch you get her killed. I want you to send her with Sawyer, and I will come get her when all this is over, understand?" he asked._

"_You may have her for now but I'll take her back when I return." said Ben._

"_This isn't about ownership, Ben," said Richard "This is about her safety, why can't you see that?"_

"Richard, can you hear me?" her voice pulled him out of the flash.

"What did you say?" he asked, turning to face Alex.

"I said whoever we're following doubled back and is following us."

"Let's melt into the jungle, I don't like surprises." he said.

"Don't bother," boomed a voice from behind them "You can't hide from me."

Alex knew who it was before she turned around. Richard stepped in front of her protectively, making himself a human shield. He faced the man before him, he was very tall and heavily muscled with buzzed hair. He was wearing very expensive American military body armor. He laughed at Richard. "Don't worry, Alpert, I can't touch her that would make Jacob very angry." he waved at Alex "Hey, did you miss me?"

She stepped out from behind Richard and faced Keamy, the man that had haunted her for years.

"I watched them kill you," she said "I know you aren't really Keamy, so what do you want?" Richard put his hand on her shoulder, like he wanted to give her strength.

"You know, Alex, it's been so great watching you grow up, look at you, you're a woman now," he said "It's too bad Jacob's probably gonna get you killed."

"Cut to the chase!" yelled Richard.

"Allright, take it easy," he said "You need to stop looking for your friend Charlotte, because you aren't going to find her. So turn around and go back the way you came."

"What have you done with her? If you hurt her I'll fuck you up just wait!" Alex got up in his face, Richard pulled her back and held her. He was afraid of what Keamy would do.

"She's fine, don't you worry," said Keamy "You better not leave the island though, you hear me?"

Before they could respond he was gone into the jungle. They could hear something big crying out and knocking down trees, moving away from them. Alex knew it was the smoke monster.

"Are you all right?" asked Richard. Alex shook her head. She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes, letting him wrap his arms around her. "What are you going to tell them?" asked Richard.

"I don't know," said Alex "He knew you, why did he know you?"

"If that was who I think it was, he's a very old, very dangerous man that was here long before me."

"Should we go after Charlotte?" asked Alex.

"No, you wouldn't stand a chance against him. Not now, not yet."

"Then I'll tell them nothing," said Alex "We'll get Charlotte back, come on I don't want to stay out here any longer."

She jerked out of Richard's arms and started walking back towards the barracks. He trailed a few steps behind her. They may be connected, but she was in love with Miles and nothing would ever change that.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you guys liked this chapter! The next one is gonna be crazy. If your lurking PLEASE leave me a review I'm a review junkie I need my fix to write. I really like writing the flash-forwards, that's why Richard has been in every chapter. I hope you guys like them. Also, special guest stars from True Blood Pam and Eric. I randomly got the idea don't ask me why. **


	13. Time is Running Out

Sawyer stood by his window, gazing out onto the compound. Northman's plan for getting them back to the future was insane, not to mention dangerous. What if it worked, though? What if they could really go back? He turned his head to look at Juliet. She was in the kitchen cooking dinner and humming to herself. What if he was able to get her off the island? Would she stay with him? Maybe she would. They could have a house and kids and...his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He answered it and found Phil standing on his front porch. Sawyer stepped back to let him enter.

"What is it, Phil?" he asked. Phil narrowed his eyes and held up an unmarked video tape.

"This is what's up, wanna know what's on it?" Phil asked casually. Sawyer nodded expectantly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. "This is a tape of you and Alex and that woman Kate out by the pylons. It shows you taking Benjamin Linus into the jungle." Sawyer didn't think. He later realized that he could have handled the situation better. His fist snaked out like lightning and connected with Phil's head. Juliet jumped as Phil fell to the floor with a thud, knocked out cold. She came to stand by Sawyer and crossed her arms, worry etched into her face.

"Our time is running out, isn't it?" she asked. He nodded solemnly. "We need to tie him up before he comes around. Then we should call a meeting." Sawyer turned and wrapped his arms around her, he buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes.

"I love you so much, Juliet Burke," he said "If anything ever happened to me, I know you could lead our family of time-traveling misfits."

"True, but I couldn't nick-name them as efficiently." she replied. Sawyer grinned and pulled her into a long kiss.

Richard and Angel were out in the jungle together, Richard had been summoned by Jacob and Angel was accompanying him to the statue.

"Will I ever meet Jacob?" asked Angel. Richard smiled to himself. Unbeknownst to Angel, Richard was training him to be his successor.

"One day." said Richard.

"Okay, good enough for me," said Angel "Did you ever find any trace of Charlotte the other day?"

Richard hadn't told him about "Keamy's" appearance yet but he needed to know. Richard's explanation left Angel shell-shocked. He was one of the select few that knew the smoke monster could shape-shift.

"If he doesn't want the Candidates to leave the island then he's figured out a way around Jacob." said Angel. Then the light bulb went off. "Kate left the island and came back, is she a candidate?" Richard nodded.

"He hasn't found a way around Jacob, Angel. I think in the future, Jacob is dead. Now he just needs all of the candidates in one place."

They both stopped walking and stared at each other, the weight of Richard's words sinking in. Richard started to feel light-headed and the sun was leaving gaping white spots in his vision.

_Then the sun was gone and it was nighttime. He was sitting around a fire in the jungle. Jacob sat on the side opposite him. Richard looked to his left and right, realizing he recognized everyone that was gathered around the fire. Some of them he knew from his visions and the rest he had met through Alex. Angel was sitting next to him holding Kate in his arms. There was a bullet wound in one of her shoulders. He didn't know how in the hell Angel was in the future but he was. Juliet and Sawyer were there also. Alex was on Richard's other side. Miles was sitting next to her. Daniel sat on the end with Rome in his lap. Ben wasn't there and neither was the fat man, Hugo. Richard wondered if they were dead. _

"_I know all of you are wondering why I'm here. We have until the fire burns out, then one of you will have to make a very difficult decision." said Jacob. He launched into the story of the smoke monster's origins and the role he played. He explained what would happen if no one took his place. Kate raked her fingers through her hair, exasperated._

"_Why us?" asked Kate "Why did so many of us have to come here and die?" _

_Jacob looked forlorn. He had never wanted anyone to get killed but it was inevitable. _

"_I picked you because you were all flawed, you all had situations that you needed to escape from," Jacob responded "Your friends died because the "monster" always stays several steps ahead of you."_

"_Why was my name and Kate's crossed out?" asked Daniel. Jacob smiled at Rome. He was a very special child and Jacob knew he would go on to do great things. _

"_I crossed them out when you became parents, the job is yours if you want it," then Jacob turned to Alex "I didn't cross your name out but I imagine after all you've been through you won't want to stay. I wish I could change what was done to you but it's over." Alex nodded gravely._

"_I'm just glad you were able to claim me." said Alex. What was she talking about? She seemed different to Richard, there was a sadness in her silence. _

"_I'll give you some time to decide," said Jacob "Those of you that are leaving, get over to the other island, take Rome and get him out of here. It's very important that he survives."_

"Richard!" Angel shook his mentor by the shoulders. Richard's eyes met Angel's and Angel knew he was back in the present.

"What did you see?" asked Angel. Richard shook his head but Angel persisted.

"I saw you, Angel. You were in the future." he said quietly. They were silent for the rest of the walk to the statue.

For the last time everyone was gathered at Miles and Alex's house. It was like the night Kate, Jack, and Hurley had come back. Alex and Miles sat on the couch with Sawyer and Juliet. Kate and Jack were huddled together talking quietly. Daniel sat on the floor, he was helping Rome put a puzzle together. They were hastily compiling a plan before the clock ran out. Daniel's Swedish scientist friends had joined them and they were explaining the first part of the plan. Sawyer wasn't on board with it entirely. It was so risky and what if it didn't work?

"We should split into teams." said Juliet.

"I absolutely agree with you," said Daniel "Who can take me to the Other's camp?"

Alex and Kate exchanged a look. Alex nodded ever so slightly to Kate.

"I can take you," said Alex "Richard knows me, it'll be much safer if I go. What about you, Kate? I could really use someone else that can shoot."

"It wouldn't be an authentic jungle adventure without both of us." Kate replied.

"If you are so friendly with their leader why do you need guns?" asked Jack.

"All jungle treks require guns," snapped Alex "Why don't you come? I could use another gun."

Jack agreed. It was decided that everyone else would pack up and head for the beach. Eric and Pam agreed to stay and keep them informed of what want on after they left. Then another issue came up.

"What about me, Daddy?" asked Rome. Daniel almost jumped. Rome's intellect grew by leaps and bounds every day. "Will I go with you?"

Daniel shook his head.

"No, buddy, where I'm going isn't safe for you." Daniel thought about it. It would be better to get Rome out of here now, while he could, in case any of them got caught. "Would anyone be willing to take Rome away from here right now?" he asked. To his surprise, Miles volunteered.

"I'll take him, I'll go get my pack right now and then we'll leave." said Miles. Rome let out a happy cry and clapped his hands, he loved "Uncle Miles". Hurley and Jin decided to go with Miles also. Daniel hugged and kissed his son and Alex said a quick goodbye to Miles. He pulled her into a deep kiss that provoked catcalls from the rest of the room and then they left. Alex and Daniel talked strategy for a few minutes while Juliet and Sawyer started packing. Kate made sure Jack wasn't paying attention to her, then she went and sat with Dr. Northman and Pam. He regarded her curiously.

"You need to ask me something important, don't you?" he asked. Kate nodded. Pam gestured for her to continue.

"If I want to bring something with me through time, something big, how would I accomplish that?" she asked. He smiled and leaned closer to her so no one else would hear.

"Back in my lab in Sweden I did some experiments. Anything that you are holding onto should come with you. When it is time for the jump, hold onto whatever or whoever it is as tightly as possible."

She wanted to ask more questions but Alex was calling for them to go. Kate thanked him and he wished her the best of luck.

Kate, Alex, Jack, and Daniel stopped by the motor pool for guns and a jeep. Jack used his janitor's keys to open the gun safe. He selected a handgun and stepped back so Alex could choose her weapon. Kate stood next to her, arms crossed.

"Let me guess, rifle?" asked Alex.

"You know me so well ." said Kate. They grinned at each other and Alex pulled out two rifles. Then their gaze shifted to Daniel.

"It's time, Dan." said Alex.

"Time for what?" he asked. Kate took a handgun out of the safe and held it out to him,

"It's time for you to use one of these." she said. Daniel took it reluctantly. They were leaving when Radzinsky and several of his goons pulled up in a van. They tried to leave quietly before he noticed them but it was too late.

"You four! What are you doing?" he barked at them.

"Doctor Chang needs some help out at the Orchid," said Daniel, trying to think fast "We're headed out there."

Radzinsky's gun came up and aimed at his chest.

"Chang is with his wife and baby, your lying!" he yelled.

Daniel tried to reason with him but there was no way they were getting out of this. He looked at the gun in his shaky hand. It was time. Without a second thought he popped a round into Radzinsky's leg. It took his goons a moment to react and in that time Alex grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him.

"Come on!" she yelled "The jeep!"

They had to take cover but after Kate took down two men they were able to make it to the jeep . They piled in and Jack floored the gas. No one followed them. They ditched the jeep out at the pylons and made their way into the jungle, Kate and Alex leading the way. Daniel was trying to explain that "whatever happened, happened" didn't really have to happen.

"I thought that if we changed things whatever we did would fail, or things would happen inevitably." said Jack.

"I did too, until I met Eric," said Daniel "I could explain but it would give you a headache and take a really long time." Jack held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Never mind, I don't wanna know." he said.

Alex reached out and squeezed Daniel's arm.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you came back, our beer pong tournaments aren't the same without you." said Alex. Daniel slung his arm around her shoulders and grinned.

"Alex, if we live through this, I promise we will have the Island of Impending Doom Cup, it'll be the tournament to end all tournaments."

"My mangos are on Alex, she always wins." said Kate.

They talked and laughed for most of the walk. They stopped at a stream near the camp to rest and make sure their weapons were loaded. Alex instructed all of them to be very quiet and they moved silently for the rest of the distance to the Other's camp. Alex didn't see Richard or Angel anywhere so she ducked down in the brush and beckoned for her companions to follow. Daniel kept looking at his watch.

"What are we going to do?" asked Daniel.

"Wait until we see Richard," said Kate "We can't just go storming in."

"We don't have time for this!" hissed Daniel, drawing his gun. Before Alex could grab him he was out in the open, gun outstretched. He walked into their camp and loudly announced that he needed to see Eloise Hawking. Alex couldn't leave him out there, alone and unprotected. She bounded after him, clicking the safety off her rifle. She stood back-to-back with Daniel. Guns came up and pointed back at them. Daniel was trying to reason with a man with curly brown hair.

"Listen, we're just here to talk, no one needs to get hurt." said Daniel.

"You came bloody storming into our camp with guns!" barked the man, brandishing a handgun at Daniel. There was something very familiar about him but Daniel couldn't place it.

"I'm a friend of Richard's he would be very upset if anything happened to me," said Alex "I know Angel too, just let us wait until one of them gets back."

The man looked like he was considering it. He started to lower his gun. Then a single shot rang out. Daniel dropped his gun in surprise and clutched at his chest. Blood blossomed from his white button-down and he dropped to the ground. Alex threw down her rifle and fell to her knees beside him. The bullet had entered from behind him it looked like, just below his heart.

"Daniel!" screamed Alex "Stay with me, you'll be fine just stay with me."

Daniel reached for her hand and held it.

"Please take care of Rome," he said "Protect him, love him, get him off this island."

One of her dearest and oldest friends was dying right in front of her. She screamed in agony and tears rolled down her face. A familiar voice cut through the air and Alex looked up.

"What in the hell is going on?" Richard and Angel were coming through the trees. Richard ran to Alex's side and looked down at Daniel.

"Richard, we have to take him to Jacob," said Alex "Please."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took so long to update. Review! Also, what characters would you like to see more of?**


	14. How to Save a Life

_Daniel was back on the beach where it all began. It was nighttime and he was sitting in the sand by the water. His journal was open in his lap. He could hear the sounds of the survivors arguing. It was the night that they had started moving through time. Charlotte was walking toward him. He had been so worried about her. He had feared that she would die or end up catatonic like Theresa. He wondered if this was real or if it was a dream. Charlotte settled next to him in the sand and offered him a mango. He thanked her and accepted it._

"_Where did you find these?" asked Daniel._

"_In the jungle," Charlotte replied "You should eat, you have a very long journey ahead of you."_

"_What are you talking about, Charlotte?" asked Daniel. _

"_Rome is special, Daniel. You have to get him off this island even if it means leaving me behind." said Charlotte._

"_I won't leave without you, Charlotte. I've spent every day of the last three years thinking about you. I would die for you, Char. You and Rome."_

_Charlotte smiled and reached out to touch his face. Daniel caught her arm and pulled her closer. He tangled his fingers in her curly, fiery hair and kissed her fiercely. When the kiss ended Charlotte rested her head on his shoulder. Daniel knew this was how it was meant to be._

"_I love you, Faraday." Charlotte murmured into his ear._

"_I love you, Lewis."_

"_Please keep Rome safe. Tell him I love him and I miss him. Tell him that mommy never meant to leave him." _

_Daniel wrapped his arms around Charlotte and pulled her against his chest._

"_Where did you go, Charlotte?" he asked her "Why can't you be found?" _

"_He was going to hurt Rome, Daniel. I had to go with him."_

_Daniel pulled back and looked Charlotte in the eye._

"_Who, Charlotte?" he asked "Who was going to hurt our baby?"_

_Then their fragile peace was shattered. Screams of terror came from the crowd of survivors behind them. All along he had known this was coming. Flaming arrows were raining down on the beach. _

"_Come on, Charlotte, run, run!" he said. For some reason he wasn't scared this time. All he wanted was for Charlotte to be safe._

_Daniel leapt to his feet and pulled Charlotte with him. They ran toward the jungle._

_Daniel saw a lone figure huddled in the sand, too afraid to run. It was Alex. They ran to her and Charlotte helped him pull Alex to her feet. _

"_Alex, we have to run, now!" said Charlotte, pulling her along. Alex shook off her fear and ran with them. Daniel could hear the hiss of arrows burying their noses in the sand. Miraculously, they made it into the tree line. Then, Charlotte fell. Daniel thought the ground would open up and swallow him_

"_Daniel!" cried Charlotte._

_. He pushed Alex forward and turned to help Charlotte. He took both of her hands and pulled her to her feet. Together, they ran into the night. In that moment Daniel knew he wanted nothing more than for his family to be together._

Sawyer and Juliet were in trouble. Radzinsky and several of his men had come to their house and discovered Phil in the closet. They were being interrogated now. Radzinsky had pistol-whipped Sawyer several times but it wasn't doing any good. He wasn't going to tell them where the rest of their people were. Shit, he didn't even know their exact location. Horace kept trying to stop Radzinsky but the situation was out of his control. Sawyer's chair had been knocked to the ground. When they asked where Kate was he spat blood on Radzinsky's shoes.

"This isn't doing any good, Stuart!" said Horace "We're done here, he isn't going to talk!"

"I can make him talk." said Phil. He turned and punched Juliet in the face. Sawyer screamed in agony and struggled against his bonds.

"I'll fucking kill you, Phil," Sawyer yelled "Just wait!"

Their scene was interrupted by Dr. Chang banging through the door. He announced that he had stopped the drilling at the Swan site and that they needed to evacuate the island. Sawyer started formulating a plan in his head. A plan that would get himself and Juliet on the sub.

A silence had settled over the Other's camp. Richard stood by Alex, arms crossed. He was staring daggers at Eloise.

"What were you thinking, Eloise?" said Richard.

"He had a gun to Charles' head, I reacted." said Eloise.

"Richard, there's no time." said Alex. She was on her knees by Daniel. He was still alive but just barely. Kate and Jack had come out of the bushes and they were standing with Angel, talking hurriedly. "We have to get him to Jacob!"

Richard rubbed his temples and beckoned to Angel.

"Wherever they need to go, take them," said Richard . He turned to Eloise. "I am leaving Angel in charge in my absence. If you defy him, you defy me is that understood?"

"Yes, Richard, I understand." she said.

Richard went to get one of the horses so they wouldn't have to carry Daniel to the statue. Alex rose and went to stand with Kate and Jack.

"You guys understand the next part of the plan, right?" she asked.

"We'll get the bomb," said Kate "Take care of Daniel, and don't get killed. The DI is looking for all of us now, so be careful."

Kate impulsively threw her arms around Alex in a hug. They said their goodbyes as Richard returned with a horse. Jack helped him hoist Daniel into the saddle.

"How long do you think he has, Richard?" asked Alex.

"An hour, maybe more," said Richard "We're going to have to run."

He clapped Angel on the shoulder and pulled the horse behind him. Alex fell in step with him and they started running into the jungle. This left Kate, Jack, Angel, and Eloise staring at each other awkwardly. It became apparent that Jack and Angel were sizing each other up. Daniel's journal had been left on the ground and Angel picked it up.

"Do you know where the bomb, is Eloise?" asked Angel "That was before my time."

"Why?" she asked "Why would Richard want the bomb to be dug up?"

Angel wordlessly handed her Daniel's journal. She looked at him questioningly and opened it. She almost dropped it in shock. Her own handwriting stared at her from the first page. "When I was seventeen, I took a man out to the bomb. He told me that if we buried it everything would be fine. When I asked him how he could be so sure, he told me that he was from the future. I just shot the same man. Twenty years later and he hadn't aged a day. He's my son. It isn't possible but I know it's the truth." Eloise absentmindedly touched her stomach.

"Eloise," said Jack "Your son doesn't have to die. What we're trying to do will fix everything, you can undo this."

Eloise wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded resolutely.

"The bomb is buried under the barracks, there's another entrance," said Eloise "Follow me."

Richard stood outside of Jacob's statue. He sighed and leaned back against the stone. They had brought Daniel to Jacob. All he could do now was wait. Alex was inside talking to him now. Richard didn't see how Alex could change Jacob's mind but she had asked for a minute alone with him so Richard assumed she had a plan. What was going on? What was Alex planning?

"Richard?" Alex had come back out of the statue. He could hear her voice but his vision was becoming one big blind spot. These flashes were becoming dangerous. What if he had one while he was climbing a ladder or riding a horse?

_As far as Richard could tell, he was back at the Temple. He was wandering down one of the hallways inside. The air was cool and it was dim When was he? This had to be before the other vision he'd had here. The one where he had found Alex dead. He was in the hallway that served as sleeping quarters. Some of the doors were open and he could see people sleeping on mats in the rooms. It had to be late, after midnight. Why was he here? Where was Alex?_

"_Richard, is that you?" he would know her voice anywhere. He stopped in the doorway of the room her voice had come from._

"_I'm here, Alex." he said. _

"_Come here." _

_Richard stepped into her room. She was laying on her mat, wrapped up in a blanket. A lantern was burning in the corner, dimly lighting the room. "Close the door, come sit."_

_Richard shut the door behind him and settled on the floor next to the mat. God, she was beautiful. She was wearing a white tank top that contrasted perfectly with her smooth, pale skin. Her long, dark, hair was messy and it flowed over her shoulders. _

"_What are we going to do, Richard?" Alex asked him. All he wanted to do was take her away from here. If he could get her away maybe she wouldn't die._

"_Let's leave," said Richard "We could go right now, no one would see us." _

"_You know I can't leave. I have to guard the temple, I made a deal with Jacob." Alex said miserably._

"_That's why you wanted to talk to him alone. In the statue, when we brought Daniel there. You traded your life for Daniel's." All of the pieces were coming together for Richard. Now all of his visions were starting to make sense._

"_I don't want to talk about this. Please, Richard. I just want some time with you, before everything falls apart. I don't know how much longer I can do this." _

_Do what? What was she talking about? Then he realized Miles wasn't here. Why weren't they sleeping together?_

"_Where's Miles?" asked Richard. Alex shrunk away from him_

"_He's angry with me, Richard. You know that. He and Daniel left earlier, they're looking for Charlotte." Alex turned on her other side and faced the wall. Richard could hear her crying quietly. He was causing her pain and he hated himself for that. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She tensed, then she turned back over and sat up._

"_I love him, Richard. I always will, even if he doesn't want me. You have to know that I love you too. We were never meant to be together, we aren't even supposed to be here, existing at the same time. I just don't want to cause either of you anymore pain."_

_Alex had grown up so quickly. From a child that was full of light and joy to a scarred, beautiful teenager. Now she was something else entirely. She was someone that would live and die for her beliefs and her friends. She was a warrior, Jacob's warrior. He had chosen her to be the one to save all of them. Richard just prayed she would live long enough to do it. He took Alex in his arms and twined his fingers in her hair. For a moment they were completely still, just staring into each other's eyes. Alex circled her arms around his neck and pulled him into the kiss. It was all so natural to him, like he had done this before. They fell back onto the mat and Alex started undoing the buttons on his shirt. More clothes came off and Richard remembered thinking that if he died now he would die happy. Her voice in his ear made him crazy and he wanted to stay like this forever. _

Then he was pulled away from her skin burning into his and he was back on the beach. Alex was sitting by the water, knees drawn into her chest. Richard went to join her and when she saw that he had come back she stood.

"How long was I gone for?" he asked her.

"A while. It's been almost an hour," she replied "What did you see?"

"You don't want to know." he said quickly.

"I think I do."

"No, Alex. You don't need to know."

"Yes I do, tell me now!" she was starting to get frustrated.

"Okay, but you asked for this," Richard drew in a deep breath "We were in the Temple. In bed together. We..were making love...in the Temple."

For a moment Alex was speechless.

"No we weren't," she stammered out "That isn't going to happen."

Richard shrugged and grinned at her suggestively. She was saved from having to continue the conversation by Daniel emerging from the statue. Wordlessly, she turned away from him and walked toward Daniel. There wasn't time for this. They had to end the world first.

Kate, Angel, Jack, and Eloise made their way through the jungle. Jack was walking behind Angel and staring daggers into his back. They stopped by one of the deep creeks in the jungle to rest. Eloise sat by Kate and started taking off her shoes.

"I hope all of you can swim, the tunnel is underwater." said Eloise.

"We'll manage." said Jack.

"Daniel, my son, what is he..like?" Eloise asked Kate "He's a good man, isn't he?"

Kate smiled at her. She knew Eloise had to be in deep pain over what had happened to Daniel.

"He's a good person. He's brilliant and kind. He would do anything for his friends and his family." said Kate.

"Family?" asked Eloise.

"You have a grandson, Eloise. His name is Rome. He's three and he looks just like Daniel. He's smart like Daniel too."

"I didn't know he had a baby. I wish I could meet him. Is Rome with his mother?" asked Eloise.

Kate sighed sadly. Charlotte had disappeared the day before Daniel came back. Kate explained this to Eloise and assured her that Rome was safe and in good hands. Eloise shushed her suddenly and drew her gun. Angel followed suit and they stood very still, listening. Someone was moving very stealthily through the jungle toward them.

"Show yourself!" yelled Angel, clicking the safety off his guns. There was a rustling in the bushes and Sayid came into the clearing. No one had seen him since his escape from the Dharma barracks.

"Hello, Sayid," said Kate "Why don't you join the party?"

Unbeknownst to Daniel, his plan was moving along right on schedule.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: whoo that was a pretty intense chapter. I don't want you guys to worry for Alex and Miles, there's going to be a lot more Malex. As some of you already know, I have every intention of continuing this story into season 6 so get ready. I'm either going to do flash-backs or flash-sideways in the sequel I haven't decided yet. I also have another baby planned. Charlotte is MIA for now but she'll be making plenty of appearances. I'm trying to stick to the canon but I'm doing it my way. I love all of you for reading and reviewing. Valhalla, eyoen, dr. giggles, you guys have been here from the beginning and that means the world to me. love, love, and more love!**


	15. I Spill my Heart for You

**Kate could see the surface. For a moment she had feared she would drown. Her head broke the water and she gulped in air. Eloise, Angel, Jack, and Sayid were right behind her. They climbed out of the water and looked around. They were in an underground temple of sorts. Hieroglyphics were carved into the walls.**

"**That's slightly unsettling," said Sayid "What were the ancient Egyptians doing here?"**

"**Ship wreck," said Eloise "Come on, it's this way." **

**They followed her down one of the dark hallways and came into an open room. There it was, the "Jughead". The bomb that would either be their salvation or damnation. It was huge, bigger than a car.**

"**How in the hell are we supposed to get that to the Swan site?" asked Jack. Angel silently flipped through Daniel's journal and stopped when he found the page he wanted. He beckoned to Sayid and showed him the page.**

"**It says here that the core is what we need to release the pocket. Do you trust this Faraday guy's calculations?" asked Angel.**

"**Yes, of course. I might need help removing the core." said Sayid **

"**I'll do it." said Jack.**

"**Maybe someone that knows about explosives should help him." said Angel.**

"**Yeah, right, like you know anything about bombs," snapped Jack "You're an Other. Stick to creeping through the jungle and tracking."**

"**In addition to my impressive survival skills I was also a chemist for the American government before I came here." **

"**Okay, boys, this is ridiculous," said Eloise "Angel, help him."**

**Angel kissed Kate on the cheek and went to help Sayid inspect the bomb. Jack leaned against the wall, glowering.**

"**You aren't pretty when you pout." said Kate.**

"**We were supposed to be together, Kate. What are you doing with this guy?"**

"**We were not meant to be together, Jack. You didn't want Aaron and you didn't want me. You had me, and then you lost me. You threw us away for Oxycodone." said Kate. She could see the pain in Jack's face but this was the only way to make things right. He had to know it was over between them, forever. That might not be very long since they were about to blast the island into oblivion.**

"**I'm fascinated by the drama, I truly am," said Eloise "But it's time to go, so let's go."**

**Sayid and Angel had removed the core from the bomb and Sayid had it strapped to his back. Angel showed Sayid the right tunnel to take and explained to his best knowledge where they would surface at.**

"**Aren't you coming?" asked Sayid.**

"**I can't," said Angel "A smaller group will attract less attention and I have to make sure Eloise stays away from this entire thing."**

"**Angel!" said Eloise.**

"**No, Eloise. You're pregnant with Daniel. If this fails you need to carry him to term. Radiation poisoning is bad for babies." said Angel.**

**Eloise opened and closed her mouth a few times but didn't resist him any further. They turned and started walking back to where they came in. After a moment of consideration Kate went after them. If she got separated from Angel she might never see him again. Jack and Sayid started up the stairs that would take them up into the barracks. They both had their guns drawn, ready for whatever was on the other side. **

"**So, Blondie, are you ready for life on the other side?" asked Sawyer. Juliet smiled sadly and shifted in her handcuffs.**

"**I think so. I don't know, we would have to go straight now." said Juliet. They had been taken to the sub and they were handcuffed in a small holding area. Sawyer leaned over and kissed Juliet. Maybe they could have their life now, with a house and kids. **

"**Wait, Wait!" came a voice from down the hall "Horace wanted them on the sub, too." **

**Juliet and Sawyer exchanged a knowing look. They knew all too well what was going to happen now. Footsteps echoed around the sub and three people walked into the holding area. It was a security man and the Swedish scientists. Dr. Northman grinned at Juliet as the security guy handcuffed him and Pam to one of the pipes.**

"**Please don't cause any trouble." he said before he left. They waited and made sure he was out of earshot before speaking.**

"**Hello, Eric." said Juliet.**

"**Hello, dah-ling." he replied. If the situation wasn't so serious she would have found his accent comical.**

"**How did they catch you guys?" asked Sawyer.**

"**We let them catch us." said Pam.**

"**Why?" asked Juliet.**

"**We thought you two would need a rescue." said Eric.**

"**Well, we're very thankful but how in the hell are we going to get out of here?" said Sawyer. As if to answer his question Pam's handcuffs sprang open. Wordlessly, she turned to Eric and started working on freeing him.**

"**How did you do that?" Juliet was in awe. Eric's handcuffs clicked open and Pam turned to Juliet.**

"**I work with Swedish police before," she said "You learn things."**

**After all of them were free they hastily formulated a plan to get them off the sub. They would sneak up on the captain and force him to surface.**

"**Are you ready for great sub escape?" asked Eric. **

**Suddenly, one of the sub's crew walked in with a tray of sedatives. Before he even knew what was happening Juliet knocked him down with a blow to the head and bashed him in the face with her knee. She took the gun from the unconscious man and made sure it was loaded.**

"**Now we're ready." she said. Without another word they moved to put their plan in action.**

**Daniel, Alex, and Richard made their way through the jungle. They were headed directly to the Swan site because Daniel was having second thoughts.**

"**This is too dangerous. I should have seen this before but I was too selfish. Rome is here. You guys are here. What if all of us died and never came back?" said Daniel.**

"**Dan, this was your idea to get us back to the future. If you are unsure we shouldn't do it." said Alex.**

"**What do you think, Richard?" asked Daniel. Richard wanted to respond but he couldn't because he was drowning, drowning, drowning. Everything was black and he couldn't breathe.**

_**It was dark and wet. Richard could taste salt in his mouth. Someone's hands were compressing his chest. He coughed and spat the water that was blocking his lungs. He gulped in a lungful of precious air. **_

"_**Come on, Richard, fucking breathe!" It was a woman's voice, not Alex's. He opened his eyes to see one of the women he had seen in his last vision, Juliet. It was nighttime, and they were on the beach. He could make out dark figures moving around behind her, crawling out of the surf. What happened? Why did he feel like he'd been hit by a truck?**_

"_**Juliet, I need you to get this bullet out. She's in a lot of pain." Angel's face came into Richard's periphery "Hey boss, you ok?"**_

_**Richard sat up and looked around. A random thought rolled through Richard's head. So few of us, he thought. So few of us left alive. What did that even mean?**_

"_**Angel, where are we?" asked Richard "What happened?"**_

"_**We blew up, boss," Angel replied "That bastard blew us up." **_

_**Then he was gone. He was leading Juliet over to one of the dark figures laying in the sand. Richard guessed that is was Kate. Where was Alex? He shakily got to his feet and surveyed the beach. That was when he saw her. She was sitting with Miles. He had his arms around her and she was crying. Miles looked up and saw him, to Richard's surprise he gestured for him to join them. Richard walked over to them slowly and crouched down by Alex.**_

"_**Hey, man, are you okay?" asked Miles "We were starting to worry, we didn't see you come out of the water."**_

_**Richard touched his temple. He could feel a large bruise forming.**_

"_**I think I'm all right, Juliet dragged me out," he said "Alex, are you hurt?"**_

_**She turned to him and threw her arms around his neck. She sobbed onto his shoulder.**_

"_**They're all dead, Richard. Everyone that hasn't come out of the water, they're dead!" Alex cried. Richard and Miles exchanged a look and both of them tried to comfort her. There was no point in fighting for her anymore, Richard realized. Alex would be with whoever was left alive by the end of this.**_

_**"Alex, baby, we need you to be strong. You're the warrior. If there's anyone that can save us it's you." said Miles.**_

_**"I can't save anyone." said Alex.**_

_**Richard curled his fingers in her hair and looked her in the eye.**_

_**"I love you, Alex," he said "I will follow you until the day I die. You are our fallen angel risen from the dead. I'll protect you, Miles will protect you. We are your soldiers and we need you to lead us into battle. This is what we're here for."**_

_**Alex reached out and took his hand and held Miles' hand in her other one. **_

_**"Okay you guys. Let's say a prayer to the gods of war for victory or a glorious death on the battle field." said Alex. Miles and Richard grinned at each other.**_

_**"There's the fierce warrior goddess that we know so well." said Richard. Suddenly, he noticed blood spreading from Alex's pants. "Alex, you're bleeding."**_

_**She touched the blood then her hand went to her stomach.**_

"_**Something...something's wrong." she said.**_

"**Something's wrong with him," said Alex "He's never collapsed from one of those visions like this."**

**Richard opened his eyes and saw Alex's face hovering above him. His vision focused and he saw Daniel, Kate, and Angel standing behind her.**

"**Angel, when did you get here?" he asked.**

"**A few minutes ago. I tracked you guys here, Are you ok, boss?" asked Angel "You were out cold. We were starting to get worried." Hadn't he said the same thing in Richard's vision?**

"**Yeah..I just... you know." Richard didn't know where to begin.**

"**What did you see?" asked Kate.**

"**We were on the beach, it was night. There had been some sort of explosion, we came out of the water. Angel, you were there somehow. And Kate someone had shot you in the shoulder."**

"**Is that all?" asked Daniel.**

"**Yes, I think so." said Richard. He couldn't tell Alex about the blood. It would only worry her. He slowly got to his feet. "Did you guys come to a decision while I was out?"**

"**We're going to stop them," said Kate "Daniel's right, it's too dangerous with the baby here."**

"**Then we better hurry." said Richard. They started moving toward the swan site. Kate walked in the back with Angel, silently contemplating Richard's vision.**

"**What are you thinking about?" asked Angel. **

" **You, in the future." she said.**

"**Isn't it weird?" said Angel "I wonder how I got there."**

"**I think I brought you there."**

"**What? how?" It couldn't be possible. He wasn't there when they had originally started moving through time. **

"**Dr. Northman told me that if I wanted to bring someone with me all I had to do was hold onto them when we jumped."**

"**Really? You want me to stay with you for...for awhile?" Angel's heart was pounding. He had known from the moment he saw Kate that he would love her. She stopped walking and wrapped her arms around him, leaning into his chest.**

"**Angel, your skin is like chocolate milk and I think you're smarter than me. Being with you doesn't cause me pain like it did with Jack. I want you to stay with me forever, I don't ever want to be away from you. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."**

**He pulled back and held her face in his hands, he could see the love radiating from her eyes.**

"**I've loved you from the beginning and I will stay by your side until the day I die." he leaned down and kissed her passionately. She tasted like rain and he didn't ever want the kiss to stop. They were broken apart by a wolf whistle from Richard.**

"**Hey, when you two are done devouring each other's faces we have an island to save." Alex called to them.**

**Kate took Angel's hand and caught up to the group. She knew she was ready to face Jack and the H-bomb with Angel by her side.**

**Jack and Sayid had surfaced in Horace's house. The compound was in a panic. There were security goons everywhere with guns. Sayid had put on one of Horace's jumpsuits and they were going to try to walk out into the jungle without being noticed. They stepped out onto Horace's porch and started walking toward the tree line. Jack could feel his heart dancing in his chest. So far, they were blending in. Then their camouflage was shattered.**

"**You're that hostile, the one that shot the kid!" it was Phil. Of course it was Phil. He had his rifle pointed at Sayid's heart. Jack and Sayid held their hands in the air. They had been so close, now they were never going to get out of this.**

"**You don't want to shoot me, I have a bomb strapped to my back." said Sayid. He grabbed Jack's arm and they cut and run. Bullets rained down on them and they took cover behind a house so they could return fire.**

"**Sayid, if we don't make it our of here alive, I want you to know it's been an honor serving with you." said Jack.**

"**The same to you, my friend." said Sayid. He aimed carefully and managed to pop a round into one of the security men. Then, Sayid saw something that made him believe in God. A blue van was screeching toward them. Jin was driving. The van skidded to a halt in front of them and the door flew open.**

"**Get in!" Miles was in the back. Jack and Sayid climbed in as fast as possible and slammed the door behind them. Jin floored the gas and sped down one of the roads into the jungle. When they were safe Jack began to breathe again.**

"**Thank you for the rescue." said Sayid.**

"**No problem, dudes." Jack and Sayid looked behind them in surprise and saw Hurley in the very back. He had been huddled down with his body curled around Rome, shielding him from the bullets.**

"**Why is there a baby in here?" asked Sayid.**

"**I am not a baby," said Rome "I'm three."**

**Sayid's jaw dropped at Rome's enunciation. He had never heard a toddler speak that way.**

"**That's Rome." said Jin. Sayid held his hand out for Rome to shake. Rome looked at him as if he was sizing him up and accepted the hand shake. **

"**A pleasure to meet you, Rome. You obviously possess intelligence beyond your years," said Sayid "Who are your parents?"**

**Miles answered for Rome.**

"**His father is Daniel and his mother is Charlotte." said Miles. **

"**What a pair," said Sayid "I can see the resemblance."**

**Hurley tousled Rome's hair and they drove on in silence. Sayid thought of Nadia and how he hadn't had a chance to give her a baby. If their plan worked he would give her the life and family she had always wanted.**

**Eric, Pam, Juliet, and Sawyer had paddled their way to shore in a life raft. They were standing on the beach talking about their next move when a familiar face came bounding out of the trees. It was Vincent. He ran toward them, barking with pure joy.**

"**Vincent!" said Juliet "We haven't seen you since the flaming arrows." **

**He frolicked around their little group happily, allowing all of them to pet him.**

"**You are a good dog, aren't you?" said Eric, scratching his ears "He is an old friend of yours, no?"**

"**He is," said Sawyer "We haven't seen him since the day we started moving through time. I wonder if anyone else survived."**

**His answer came from a voice cutting through the air.**

"**Oh we sure did."**

**All of them spun and saw Rose standing behind them. She walked up to them and surveyed their faces.**

"**Surprised to see me?" she asked. Before they could answer her face changed. Her eyes filled with fear, focused on Juliet.**

"**Oh, Juliet, honey," she said, reaching out to touch Juliet's arm "You better run and you better hide. Death has his ugly mark on you."**

**Author's note: I'm sorry it took me so long to update. My computer broke and I just got it back from the shop. I hope y'all liked this chapter. What characters and couples would you like more of? Also I need baby names boys and girls. The couples could be richard/ alex, miles/ alex, kate/angel, and sawyer/juliet. Any requests for scenes from season 6? also, would you like flash-forwards or flash-sideways in the sequal? Last but not least, here's the soundtrack to this story. More songs will be added after this.**

**1. Meet me on the Equinox - Death Cab for Cutie**

**2. All the Right Moves - OneRepublic**

**3. Falling in the Black - Skillet**

**4. Time of Dying - Three Days Grace**

**5. Mr. Brightside - The Killers**

**6. Across the Universe - The Beatles / Like a Prayer - Rufio**

**7. A guide to Marine Life - Falling Up**

**8. Last Dance with Mary Jane - Tom Petty**

**9. And we all Have a Hell - From first to last**

**10. Where's my Angel? - Metro station**

**11. Crimes of the Heart - Immortal Technique**

**12. Welcome to the Jungle - Guns'n'Roses**

**13. Time is Running out - Muse**

**14. How to Save a Life - The Fray**

**15. Until the Day I die - Story of the year**


	16. The Leaving Song Part 1

**Richard, Kate, Alex, Daniel, and Angel made their way through the jungle. Each step took them closer to the Swan site. They could only pray that Jack and Sayid wouldn't beat them there. How had it come to this? The fate of the world was in their hands. A felon, a jumpy scientist, an immortal , a hippie and a girl that was just barely of age. No one spoke and they moved at a brisk pace. If the island was still standing after this they really needed to invest in a pair of walkie-talkies. Before the shootout at the gun safe, they had agreed that they would meet back up with Sawyer and Juliet at one of the creeks. Hopefully, nothing had happened that would prevent them from being there. They had to walk down the bank for almost a mile before they ran into them. The Swedish scientists were with them and they were all soaked. Alex ran into Juliet's arms and hugged her tight. Juliet laughed and returned the hug.**

**"Did you guys go swimming?" asked Kate. **

**"In a way," said Eric "We escaped from the submarine and had to paddle to shore."**

**"How did you get on the sub?" asked Richard. Before they could answer Daniel interjected. **

**"Can we walk and talk?" said Daniel "In case you guys forgot the island we're standing on is about to be blown up. We need to hurry." **

**"Wait I thought we wanted to blow the island up, what happened?" asked Juliet. **

**"Dan thinks it's too dangerous and I agree with him," said Richard "We have to stop them. Jacob wouldn't want this."**

**Daniel threw his hands in the air, exasperated.**

**"Let's go you guys, come on!" he was trying not to yell "Move your asses we still have to find them!"**

**All of them stopped talking and stared at Daniel. They hadn't seen him this worked up since he got kidnapped and shot by the Others. "Why are all of you just standing there with your mouths open? THIS is the Incident. There was no Incident before, we caused it, we are causing it RIGHT NOW! So let's go!" **

**Sawyer grinned and clapped Daniel on the shoulder.**

**"Ah, Twitchy," said Sawyer "I never thought you would grow a pair, but you did and it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside."**

**Juliet gave Sawyer a shove and the group started walking again. Daniel was walking the fastest, he was out in front. It was obvious that he was being eaten alive by worry for his baby and Charlotte. He kept running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself. Alex caught up to him and linked her arm through his.**

**"Everything will be fine, Dan," said Alex "Rome is going to be fine, you'll see him soon."**

**Alex hugged Daniel's arm and nudged him with her shoulder. He tousled her hair affectionately.**

**"It's been so crazy watching you grow up, Alex. We've been on this island for such a long time. I don't want this life for Rome. I want him to see snow and attend school and I want to be able to take him to Disney World for his birthday. I have to get him off this island but how can I leave without Charlotte?"**

**"Daniel, I swear we'll find her. I'll find her if it kills me." said Alex. They were interrupted by Kate catching up to them. She and Alex tried to calm his racing mind, they needed him on point if they were going head-to-head with Sayid and Jack. **

**Sawyer was just as lost in his head as Daniel was. He didn't know if he wanted to blow the island to hell or save it. In a way, he really didn't care what they ended up doing. All he wanted was to protect the people he cared about. He had this picture in his head of this sideways world where he and Juliet were married. They had a little house in the suburbs with a big back yard and a basketball hoop in the driveway.**

_**Sawyer would come home from work and park his car in the driveway. In this dream world he was a cop, a detective. He was good and honest and he worked hard to protect people. Before he could open the front door it burst open and three children spilled out. A little boy and two little girls, they all appeared to be about six years old. . In his head, he knew that one of them wasn't his. His children were blonde and blue eyed and they screamed "Daddy! Daddy!" as they ran to hug his legs. The second little girl had olive-tinged skin, dark hair, and blue eyes. Those eyes were so familiar. Whose was she? He knew they were watching her for someone, it was like there were these big holes in his memory. He knew things like the names of his children and that they were twins but he didn't remember them being born. He crouched down and hugged his children. They squealed with delight and told him all about their day at school. His daughter's name was Sun and his boy was James. He kissed both of them and stood back up so they could go inside. The dark-haired girl, Danielle was her name, had gone back inside. He ushered Sun and James inside and shut the door. He could smell something like meatloaf cooking in the kitchen. He hung his gun and badge in the hall closet and went into the kitchen, his kids trailing behind him. Juliet was standing at the counter, chopping vegetables for a salad. Her hair was pulled back off her face and she was wearing a simple yellow sundress. She was the most beautiful creature on the face of this planet to Sawyer. In that moment he knew he would do anything for his wife and his children. Danielle was hiding shyly behind Juliet's legs, peeking around them to look at Sawyer. He knew her face. She belonged to someone very close to him, he just knew. He stepped forward to hug Juliet and give her a kiss. Danielle flitted away like a shadow and hid on the other side of the counter. She was so skittish, she reminded him of someone he couldn't place. **_

_**"Danielle, sweetheart, say hello to Uncle Sawyer." Juliet called over her shoulder. Danielle came out slowly and reached up toward him. Sawyer scooped her up in his arms and spun her around. Juliet's bell-like laughter filled the kitchen and the twins came pattering in to see what was so funny. **_

_**"Daddy, us too!" trilled Sun. Sawyer went to put Danielle down but she suddenly burst into tears. James and Sun covered their ears to block out Danielle's wailing.**_

_**"Danielle, what's the matter?" asked Juliet, rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her.**_

_**"I want my mommy!" cried Danielle "I want my mommy to take me home. I want to go home!" Juliet and Sawyer exchanged a look of anguish. Juliet held out her arms for Danielle and took her from Sawyer. She rocked her and Sawyer took their children into the living room to play. **_

_**"Danielle, your mommy loves you very much and she didn't want to leave you here but she had to. She went to go get your daddy. I promise it won't be much longer, she'll be back before you know it." Danielle scrunched up her little face in confusion.**_

_**"But mommy said that daddy had to live somewhere else and he couldn't come back." said Danielle.**_

_**"He can come back now, that's all that matters," said Juliet "Our whole family will be together again, isn't that wonderful?"**_

_**A smile spread over Danielle's face very slowly and she nodded. They were interrupted by James and Sun barreling into the kitchen with Sawyer trailing behind them. James skidded to a halt in front of Danielle.**_

_**"Are you better now?" he asked. Danielle nodded shyly. He reached out as if he was going to hug here, but he tagged her instead. "You're it!" he yelled and took off like a shot. Danielle and Sun squealed in unison and ran after him. Sawyer slung his arm around Juliet's shoulders and he pulled her close. **_

_**"You know I love you more than breathing, right?" he asked her.**_

_**"As I love you." said Juliet.**_

**"What meatloaf?" said Juliet. As suddenly as he had left the jungle, he was back. Everyone had stopped walking and they were staring at him.**

**"Are you not well?" asked Eric.**

**"I'm fine!" protested Sawyer "Why?"**

**"You ask Juliet is meatloaf ready. All of us wonder, what meatloaf?" he chuckled.**

**"I was daydreaming, that's all." said Sawyer. Before anyone else could get a word out Daniel yelled.**

**"When you ladies are done gossiping we have to intercept a nuclear weapon from a child-shooting Arab and Captain Oxycodone!"**

**Sawyer guffawed loudly and started moving again.**

**"I think you've been spending way too much time around Sawyer." said Alex.**

**"Any time spent around Sawyer is too much." Daniel muttered.**

**Sawyer was about to quip back but they heard something that made all of them freeze. There was a vehicle moving down the road just through the trees. A van would get them to the Swan site much faster. All of them moved like one fluid being. Guns ready, they shot through the trees into the road. They formed a line to stop the van and waited. To their surprise the van stopped and the driver's door opened. Miles hopped out and started walking toward them. He had Rome in his arms. Jack, Sayid, Jin, and Hurley got out and trailed behind Miles. Daniel ran forward and Rome struggled until Daniel took him from Miles. He hugged Rome tightly and tried to fight back tears. **

**"Daddy, I missed you so much. I was afraid you were gone again." said Rome, hugging him back.**

**"Oh, Rome," said Daniel "Daddy will never leave you, that's a promise."**

**Rome settled against his chest and Daniel turned back to the group. Miles had his arms around Alex and she was whispering into his ear between kisses. It felt like they had been apart for so long. She seemed different somehow, when he touched her he felt this warm white light that hadn't been there before. It was like she had been touched by something otherworldly. Now wasn't the time to ask though. He could sense there was something wrong, something had changed. **

**"So, what's going on, dudes?" said Hurley.**

**"Have all of you forgotten that we're on a schedule here?" asked Sayid. Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Daniel came forward.**

**"We aren't going to do this, Sayid. It's too dangerous. It isn't too late for us. We can salvage what we have now, live our lives." said Daniel.**

**"What?" said Jack "This was your idea. This is why we're here, this is our destiny We are supposed to do this!" He had this frantic, desperate look in his eye. Kate felt an icy cold hand close around her heart. Jack was being overcome by the same darkness that had driven John Locke to murder an innocent woman and split their people in half. **

**"Jack, you sound like Locke," said Kate "How many more people have to die before you realize that we aren't on a crusade for the holy land, here?"**

**"I would gladly die to save our friends. What about Charlie? Remember Claire?" Jack fired back "Sayid, what do you think?" Sayid had been silent this entire time, he was deep in thought weighing his options. He didn't need them to drop this bomb. He looked at Daniel and in that moment Sayid hated him. His child was safe in his arms and the woman he loved was out there somewhere. Nadia was gone and unless he did this they would never be together. **

**"What do our scientist friends have to say?" asked Sayid. Eric and Pam had been quiet this entire time. This wasn't their decision, they were here to help Daniel with whatever he decided was best. They exchanged a look and Eric came forward to stand by Daniel.**

**"Daniel speaks truth ," said Eric "There is much risk. If this is not done, ah, how do I say...in the correct way, many people could die. "**

**"Will the plan work if I follow the instructions in Daniel's journal?" asked Sayid.**

**Daniel's arms tightened around Rome and his heart started hammering. **

**"Yes, but..." Eric didn't finish his sentence. He had already said too much.**

**"How did you get my journal?" asked Daniel. Angel raised his hand.**

**"I'm sorry, dude. I gave it to him while you were dead." said Angel. Kate grabbed Sayid's arm as if to stop him from walking away.**

**"Sayid, don't tell me you're actually considering this." said Kate. His cold, dead, eyes focused on her and Kate reflexively let him go. Daniel started backing up very slowly and Sawyer stepped in front of him, shielding Rome. For a moment, they were frozen in time. No one moved a muscle or spoke. Then, Sayid gave Jack a little nod, and all hell broke loose. Sayid took off running and Jack whirled and pointed his gun at all of them. There was nothing for any of them to say. All they could do was move, fast. Alex started to chase Sayid but Jack fired his gun at her. She dropped to the ground and the bullet missed her by what felt like an inch. Pam lunged for Jack's unprotected back before he could shoot again, he spun around and they collided. Before anyone could move an inch the gun fired and blood blossomed from Pam's chest. She crumbled, bleeding out almost instantly. Her sacrifice was what saved them all. Sawyer came for Jack next with Eric right behind him. Alex didn't wait to see what happened, she was on her feet, sprinting after Sayid within seconds. Richard and Miles both ran after her. Meanwhile, Eric and Sawyer were locked in battle with Jack. His hands were shaking and all of his shots were sloppy. Juliet and Daniel had vanished into the jungle with Hurley. Kate was trying to help them bring Jack down with Angel at her side. The four of them spread out, circling him, waiting for him to run out of bullets. He was mostly shooting an Angel, who was more than happy to lead him on a merry chase. He ducked and weaved, taunting Jack with insults.**

**"Hey, Jack!" he yelled "Maybe if you weren't trashed all the time your shooting wouldn't suck so bad!" **

**Jack popped another round at him but Angel could read his every move. He danced around Jack, showing off his lightning reflexes. **

**"Hey, Jack-o!" Angel was relentless "I'm gonna make Kate scream my name all night long!" He stopped and did a few pelvic thrusts to make his point. Jack didn't bother to shoot at him this time, he needed to conserve bullets. Kate kept pleading with Jack to put the gun down but he ignored her. In all the chaos, no one noticed Jin was nowhere to be seen. Then, out of nowhere, the forgotten van started and came screeching toward Jack. He swung the gun around to aim at the van and Sawyer saw his chance. He went for Jack's back and brought him down. Angel was by his side almost instantly. His foot came down on Jack's hand, crunching his fingers and forcing him to release the gun. Sawyer and Eric didn't even realize that it was over. They were both on top of Jack, working him over with punches and kicks. Jin jumped out of the van and came to stand with Kate and Angel.**

**"Help me stop them!" he said to Angel. They waded into the fray and pulled Sawyer off of Jack first, dragging him back. Kate held onto him, begging him to stop until he calmed down. Eric was incensed with rage over Pam's death. He had his hands around Jack's throat and he almost didn't let go. **

**"Come on, man!" yelled Angel "She wouldn't want this!" **

**Eric released Jack instantly. He was sobbing and covered in blood. **

**"You fool, mindless fool!" he kicked dirt in Jack's face and went to sit on the ground by Pam's body. They left him alone, there was nothing they could do that would make him feel any better. Kate went into the jungle to find Daniel and the others that had taken cover. Sawyer stood over Jack, making sure he didn't run off.**

**"Dude, the van was brilliant," Angel said to Jin "You were a ninja, he didn't even see you coming."**

**"How can you joke right now?" asked Jin.**

**"I wasn't joking. You really were a ninja." Angel flashed his pirate grin. Jin cracked a small smile.**

**"I like you." he said. Their male bonding moment was interrupted by Kate returning with Daniel, Juliet, and Hurley. Thankfully, Rome was asleep in Juliet's arms and he didn't have to see what came next. Daniel froze when he saw Eric crouched by Pam's body. Then he saw Sawyer standing over Jack and made the connection. Something inside of him snapped. He stormed over to Jack and grabbed him by the collar.**

**"Why?" instead of yelling he talked very quietly "What did she do to you?"**

**Jack didn't say anything, he hid behind his poker face. Daniel cocked his arm back to punch him and let loose. For a computer geek he could really throw a punch. Sawyer grabbed him and pulled him back.**

**"He isn't worth it. I already worked him over for you. Don't be like him, Dan." said Sawyer. Daniel stopped struggling and Sawyer instinctively bear-hugged him. It was unclear who was more surprised. **

**"You're right, Sawyer. With everything that's happened...in a way, we've all forgotten who we are." said Daniel. He clapped Sawyer and went to take Rome from Juliet so she could examine Jack. Before they could discuss their next move, a single shot rang out from some distance away. Everyone tensed and looked around at each other. They were all thinking the same thing , **_**Alex!**_


	17. The Leaving Song Part 2

Hello again everyone! Eyoen, Giggles, thanks so much for following this story all the way. This is NOT a dead fic walking, I've just been busy and computerless. If you guys are interested send me a few OC's for season 6. This is Lost, my way, with my ideas and I want to work in more of what you guys think should have happened in season 6. Also, how do you guys feel about Angel? Do you like him better than Jack or can't stand him? Which characters would you like to see join the cast? Any requests for scenes or ghost appearances? Thanks for reading and enjoy the new chapter. Lots of love for my readers!

This chapter is raw and I wanted to post what I have asap. There's going to be one more I couldn't squeeze it all into this one.

Alex didn't have time to look back. She scooped her gun up from the ground and bolted into the jungle after Sayid. She heard another shot coming from the clearing but she knew if she didn't bring Sayid down right now it would be too late. He'd left a sloppy trail and she knew she was catching up to him. Alex was so focused on her mission that she didn't realize someone was following her. Sayid's trail was cold now, she had a feeling he was waiting for her, trying to trap her. Alex cursed in frustration and kicked out at a tree, stubbing her toe in the process.

"Damn it, damn it!" she yelled, reaching down for her throbbing toe. In that moment she realized there was someone standing in the trees in front of her. She screamed and jumped backwards in shock. It was Naomi. The one that had triggered the beginning of the end. Alex was there when Locke killed her. This was another one of the Monster's tricks, and Alex wasn't going to stand for it. Before Alex could start yelling Naomi raised her arms in surrender and took a step closer.

"Please don't be afraid of me," she said, "You remember me, don't you?"

"Screw off." Said Alex, turning to walk away. Suddenly, she realized everything was frozen. It was like the wind was stuck with the trees still in motion. She looked down at an anthill and saw every single ant was stopped in place. "What the fuck is going on?" she whirled back to face Naomi.

"I'm here to help you. All of us that have died are still here, trapped here. The rules are changing. Everything is changing. " Naomi said.

"I don't need your kind of help. Stop trying to manipulate me into doing your bidding because it won't work." Alex couldn't walk away. She wasn't paralyzed but she felt as if she were stuck in time too.

"I'm not him, Alex. Some of us have grown tired of watching you guys being picked off. Before, there was nothing we could do. But now you and my team have changed everything. I don't have enough time to explain everything, so-" Alex cut Naomi off.

"I'm not going to believe a word you say. You can't trick me."

Naomi smiled sadly and reached out to grab Alex's arm. Before Alex could flinch away Naomi's hand dissipated like mist and came back together when she let go of Alex. Alex opened and closed her mouth a few times, much like a fish. "You're…you're a ghost." She breathed.

"Sayid went that way," said Naomi, pointing off into the trees. She started to walk away and everything started moving again. The wind in the trees, she could hear yelling in the distance. Probably Eric screaming in agony over his partner's death. A breeze rolled through her hair and she could hear Naomi's voice in her ear.

"_Danielle and Karl say hello," she breathed "They miss you."_

With that said, Naomi's presence vanished entirely. Alex picked up Sayid's trail again in the direction that Naomi had pointed. She didn't waste anymore time – or, had she even wasted any time at all? How long had the clock been stopped for? She didn't have time to think about it right now. She was hunting down a trained soldier with an armed nuclear weapon, Alex should have been watching her surroundings. She heard Sayid's safety click off behind her.

"Drop the gun, Alex." He ordered her. She turned slowly, hands in the air, and dropped her gun. "On your knees!"

"Why are you doing this?" she pleaded with him "We're on the same side here. There doesn't have to be anymore senseless killing!"

Sayid's face remained blank and he fingered the trigger. He didn't want to kill Danielle's daughter but he didn't have time for this. Alex was too much of a threat.

"I am sorry, Alex" he nodded his head apologetically "You really do look just like her."

Alex squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the gunshot but it never came. Instead, she heard, no, felt, Richard creeping through the trees behind them. Whispers bounced around Sayid, confusing him. Before he knew what was happening Richard jumped him from behind and tried to pull the bomb off of his back. Alex didn't think, she just reacted. She picked up her gun from the jungle floor and shot Sayid square in the chest, no hesitation. It was unclear who was more surprised. Richard removed the bomb from Sayid's backpack very carefully and set it on the ground.

"Are you all right, Alex?" he asked her. She was watching Sayid slowly bleed to death. Beads of sweat rolled down her face and her gun slipped to the ground. Richard pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest. She wasn't crying, it was like she was still in shock. She'd shot people before but not anyone she knew personally. She'd never seen someone slowly die at her hand this way. Before, this had been Ben's fight and she was just an innocent bystander but now this was her battle. Richard was whispering comforting words in her ear. "This isn't your fault, baby. He was going to kill you, and anyone else that got in his way. I'm sorry I couldn't pull the trigger for you. I'm sorry Jacob has these plans for you and that I can't keep you on the sidelines anymore. I would die for you, Alexandra. "

He risked a glance down at her and realized she was looking back at him. She circled her arms around his neck and stared straight into his eyes.

"Since when do you call me baby?" he smiled and kissed her cheek.

"In the future, you'll see." He said.

"Am I going to die?" she didn't sound scared. Richard shook his head and pulled her closer.

"I don't know, baby. I do know that as long as I'm breathing I will fight to keep you alive. "

Alex didn't ask again. She tipped her face up to Richard and kissed him. When their lips touched he saw images in his mind. Who was to say if they were of the future or the past?

_The first thing Richard noticed about the flash was that he was on the beach by Jacob's statue. It was nighttime. He was sitting on a rock with a petite Asian woman, Sun. Her name was Sun and she was married to Alex's friend, Jin. He didn't remember how he met them but he knew them. He knew that right now, back in the 70's, Jin was missing her terribly. Where was Alex? Where were her friends from the Dharma Initiative? Daniel? Juliet? Angel wasn't here either. That couldn't be a good sign. _

_ "So what does Locke want with Jacob?" asked Sun._

_Locke. Locke. The bald man that had walked into his camp, claiming to be their leader before he vanished without a trace. _

_ "I don't know," said Richard "Where is he?" Sun gave him a funny look._

_ "You just sent him into the statue. With Ben, to meet with Jacob," she answered "Are you feeling all right?"_

_ "Right, yeah, I'm fine," Richard surveyed the beach, looking for his friends amongst his present-day people._

_ "Have you seen Jin since we left the island?" she asked him, fiddling with her wedding band. That would be a tough one to answer. How could he possibly get her to understand? He remembered Alex telling him about the freighter and the helicopter, about how some of her friends had escaped. Then it all clicked into place. Kate and Jack had been on the chopper with Sun. They left together, Sun wouldn't be here now if they hadn't all come back together. They hadn't dropped the bomb yet. That was why Alex wasn't here. He had to get back to her. He had to make sure she didn't get stuck in the 70's. He turned to Sun and placed his hands on her shoulders_

_ "Sun, this isn't going to make sense but I need you to listen anyways." She nodded her head and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "First I need to know what year it is."_

_ "It's 2007. Are you sure you're ok?" she asked again. Fuck. This was the future, one without Alex if he didn't do something fast._

_ "Your husband and the rest of our friends are here, they're just not here now. I don't know Jin well but I know he misses you. I need you to fill me in on what's going on here. Is Alex here? Have you seen her?"_

_ "Ben's daughter?" Sun shook her head "I haven't seen her since the chopper right before the freighter went down. She jumped out after Sawyer ."_

_Good girl, thought Richard. She stuck with Sawyer like he instructed her to. Richard listened as Sun summarized what happened between when she left and came back. _

_He was unsure of how long they talked for. Sun gave him a picture of her daughter and asked him to give it to Jin if he could. He folded it very carefully and made sure it was safe in his pocket. Then, she said something that struck horror into the marrow of his soul._

_ "What do you mean Locke came back from the dead? Are you sure?"_

_ "His casket was on the plane with us. He was very dead." Sun knew by the look on Richard's face that something was very wrong. Richard looked up and saw a group of people making their way up the beach. They were carrying a big box on a litter. Big enough for a body. He didn't speak or wait for them, he took off running for Jacob's statue. He found the hidden door and darted inside. It was too late. Ben was covered in blood, crouched on the floor by the fire. Locke stood next to him, he heard Richard's entrance and turned to face him._

_ "What are you still doing here, Alpert?" he asked "You better convince them to drop that bomb if you want to save your girlfriend."_

_Before Richard could think or react Locke took the knife from Ben and plunged it into Richard's chest._

"You better fucking wake up, Alpert!" Richard opened his eyes and saw Miles standing over him. The van was parked in the clearing now. The rest of their group had caught up to them while he was in the future. His head was resting in Alex's lap and he knew he had teleported into the middle of some drama. "Get up!" Miles yelled at him again. Richard looked up at Alex.

"Yeah, he saw everything." She didn't have to ask what he was thinking. Richard got to his feet slowly with his hands raised in surrender. Miles circled around him, jaw clenched like an angry pitbull. Richard started backing up slowly.

"Miles, we don't have time for this. If we don't drop the bomb right now, none of you will make it back to the future." Richard's words didn't register with Miles, instead he swung his arm around to punch Richard. Luckily, Sawyer caught his arm and pulled him back.

"Whoa, Bonsai. Let the adulterer talk." Sawyer yelled for everyone to gather around and listen. Daniel, Eric, and Jin had been eavesdropping and came to stand around Sawyer. Rome was awake now in Daniel's arms and looked as serious as a three-year-old can. Juliet came out of the van , she was covered in blood from trying to help Sayid. He was in a lot of pain and because of the bullet's positioning it was going to take a long time for him to pass on. Alex was still sitting on the ground with her head in her hands, heartbroken. Juliet pulled her to her feet and whispered in her ear that everything would be ok. Angel and Kate drifted over to Alex and Kate squeezed her hand reassuringly. Once everyone was settled Richard began to speak. He told them everything he had seen in his vision though hardly any of it made sense due to where they were in time.

"Who told you all of this?" asked Kate "How do you know flight 316 landed?"

"Because I talked to Jin's wife, Sun." Richard felt in his pocket for the photo Sun had given him. It was still there, he pulled it out and gave it to Jin. "This is your little girl, her name is Ji-Yeon. Jin held the picture with shaking hands and swallowed the tears in his throat.

"Thank you, Richard," said Jin "Is Sun safe?"

"Yeah, she's fine, she's with the future me." Richard looked at his watch. They were running out of time. Richard turned to Daniel and Eric. "What do you guys think?"

With Pam gone Eric had nothing left to lose. He and Daniel had discussed bringing himself and Pam through time with them but it was all meaningless now. He had no desire to continue his research without her.

"I will stand behind Daniel, in whatever he decides." Eric announced.

Daniel was silent for a moment. He looked down at Rome in his arms and knew what they had to do. He hugged Rome for what could be the last time and kissed the top of his head.

"I love you, buddy," Daniel said "I want you to stay with Auntie Kate until I get back, ok?"

Rome clung on to him like an octopus and begged him not to go. Jack had been listening this entire time, he was handcuffed to one of the van's mirrors. His own people didn't even trust him and he had murdered an innocent woman. He had to make this right.

"Daniel!" Jack called out. Daniel had calmed Rome down enough to let Kate hold him. He kissed Rome again and walked away to talk to Jack.

"What do you want?" he asked Jack.

"I want to be the one to drop it. You are a father and you have to find Charlotte. This is why I'm here, it feels right." Jack looked sincere enough.

"I will take the doctor to the Swan site," said Eric "It's close enough, we can walk."

"Please come back alive," Daniel said to Eric "We all want you to stay."

Eric smiled and bent over to hug his friend. It was almost comical with Daniel being several heads shorter. Eric said his goodbyes to Juliet and the rest of the friends he had made on the island. Kate came forward and hugged him.

"Thank you for everything." Said Kate. He winked at her.

"Good luck, ya?" he patted her shoulder and went to get the bomb ready.

Sawyer took the cuffs off of Jack and walked away without saying goodbye. Kate approached Jack slowly. What he and Sayid had done to them was wrong but at least he was going to make it right. Kate kissed his cheek quickly.

"Goodbye, Jack." She said sadly.

"Bye, Kate."

Eric announced that the bomb was rigged to blow on impact. He and Jack walked away into the trees, quietly discussing strategy.


	18. Hero Legion of Doom Remix

Daniel watched Eric and Jack disappear into the jungle to go drop the bomb on the Swan construction site. The drill would pierce the pocket any moment now. Hopefully, Dr. Chang was already evacuating people off the island in case this didn't work. Daniel had a fail-safe of his own and in case the bomb killed all of them and he needed to be prepared to use it. He was sitting on the ground leaning against the van with Rome in his arms. Their time-traveling family of misfits was in disarray. Miles and Alex were standing off to the side having a whispered argument. It was probably over Alex's dalliances with Richard. Richard was standing on the other side of the clearing with Angel and Kate watching them fight. Juliet was inside the van trying to help Sayid, which was pointless. Sawyer and Jin were standing near Daniel with grim faces. Hurley was sitting next to Daniel and Rome eating a banana. He always ate when he was stressing. Daniel needed everyone to sit together and talk to activate his fail-safe. How on earth was he going to accomplish that?

"Can everyone gather around me for a moment?" Daniel asked the group. Alex and Miles stopped fighting and looked at him inquisitively.

"It's really important." Daniel said. After a moment they began to gather. Juliet came back out of the van and joined the rest of them. They were all sitting on the ground in a circle. Daniel began to explain this part of his plan. If all of them died today, with a little luck they would move on to another plane. It was like another life in another world. Sort of like purgatory. They needed to come up with a story about themselves in this dream world. They had to consult each other and commit their story to memory so none of them would ever forget. This was how they would find each other again. They had to make this special place together that was the key. Daniel never would have figured this out if it hadn't been for Eric and Pam. He truly owed them everything. After everyone was settled Daniel launched into the best explanation he could muster. Not that it mattered, everyone was still confused.

"So Twitchy, you're telling us that we can find one another again?" Sawyer asked incredulously.

"In…like..Heaven?" Hurley tacked on to the end of Sawyer's question.

"Not Heaven, it's different," said Daniel "There's no time to make all of you understand, we need to make this place."

Sawyer thought of the vision he'd had in the jungle before Pam's death. It had taken place in a dream world where he was married to Juliet and they had twins.

"I'm a cop," Sawyer said after some thought, "Juliet and I are married and we have twins. James and Sun, they're six. Miles is my partner. Pam and Eric live in our neighborhood and Pam is the captain of our precinct." Sawyer saw it fit to honor their fallen friend. Miles couldn't believe they were going for this. He spoke with the dead. They didn't move on to anywhere, they were just dead.

"Oh yeah?" said Miles "Well in this perfect world Alex left me for Richard and had a baby with him. A little girl named Danielle for her mother."

Sawyer hadn't told anyone about his vision, so how did Miles know the name of Alex's daughter?

"So be it," said Daniel "I'm a concert pianist and Charlotte helps Dr. Chang run a museum. Rome is nine and my parents are married. Rome's grandparents adore him."

Rome nodded his agreement and smiled up at his father. Daniel hugged him to his chest and tried not to think about how much he missed Charlotte.

"If you're a pianist then I play guitar with you," Angel said next "Kate and I are married too. I was her lawyer and I saved her from prison, that's how we met."

Kate laughed but didn't object to Angel's addition to the story. She had told him about her time evading the police so that was where he'd gotten the idea.

"Jack and I are doctors at the same hospital. I was married to him before James and we have a teenaged son, David." Juliet added. Even after such a massive screw-up Juliet felt Jack deserved to be one of them.

"Oh, really, Blondie?" countered Sawyer.

"Don't interrupt or change the story, Sawyer," Daniel said, "This is the only way we'll find each other whatever way this goes."

Sawyer grumbled but remained silent. He knew this was serious business.

"Sun is Juliet's nurse," Jin had been quiet this entire time but now he spoke up "We just moved to America so Sun could take the job. I am a fisherman and Sun has just told me she was pregnant."

Jin hated that he'd missed Ji-Yeon's birth. He was thankful for the photo Richard had brought him through time. Daniel wondered if Richard would time-travel with them or simply be teleported to wherever he would be after the bomb was dropped. Richard was waiting to fill in his part of the story and everyone was staring at him expectantly. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to organize his thoughts.

"Despite our falling out, Miles and I worked out our differences with Alex and her daughter. I am a history teacher at the children's school. Hurley won the lottery and he built the hospital, museum, and the school. A true philanthropist." Richard said after a moment. Miles opened his mouth to protest but Daniel shushed him.

"Thanks for deciding for me, dudes." Said Hurley. He wasn't being sarcastic.

"Yeah, and me." Alex was definitely being sarcastic. Daniel sighed and held his hands in the air to keep everyone quiet.

"Picture this place the best you can when it's time to jump. We won't know each other at first but after some time our memories of this island should be unlocked." Said Daniel. Everyone began to speak at once, bombarding him with time-travel questions that he didn't know how to answer. Then, they heard something coming from over the ridge on the other side of the clearing. Sawyer shielded his eyes from the sun and saw a jeep driving on the dirt road, headed for the Swan. Security goons with guns were going to screw up Daniel's entire plan if they didn't do something.

"Son of a bitch!" said Sawyer. There was a heated argument over who would stay and who would go. There was no way Kate would stay put when she had an excuse to run and they would need Angel's strange skill set. Plus he had to be with Kate for the jump or he'd be left behind. Rome begged Daniel not to go and he obliged. He had already left his baby for the last time, it was never happening again. It was finally decided that Kate, Angel, Miles, Richard and Sawyer would go. Jin, Alex, Daniel, Hurley, Rome, and Juliet opted to stay behind. Well, Sawyer made Juliet and Alex stay behind.

"Are you crazy?" he said after Juliet expressed her desire to join them.

"Are you?" Juliet snapped back at him.

"Did you not hear what Rose said on the beach? That death has marked you? You're staying here." Sawyer was not in the mood for a mutiny.

"Alex, you can't come," Richard said next "Remember the deal you made with Jacob?"

Alex opened her mouth to argue but Sawyer had made his decision. He made sure everyone in his group was armed with loaded guns. Then, they moved Sayid out of the van and started driving toward the Swan. Richard waved goodbye to Alex and then they were gone into the trees.

Eric and Jack were crouched in the brush around the Swan site. A jeep full of security goons had just arrived and Phil was setting up a perimeter. Dr. Chang was there and he was pleading with Radzinsky to stop the drilling. His pleas fell on deaf ears and the drilling continued.

"How are we going to do this?" Jack asked Dr. Northman.

"I make distraction, you drop bomb," he answered "Very simple."

"I'm so sorry about Pam," Jack said suddenly "I didn't mean to shoot her."

Eric didn't reply. He took the handgun from the back of his pants and clicked the safety off. He nodded to Jack, and then he walked out in the open. Jack moved around to the other side of the construction site so he could make a break for it once they noticed Eric. An alarm was sounding from the drill and Dr. Chang was at the controls, trying to shut it down. His efforts were futile; electromagnetism was pulling the drill down, into the earth. A gunshot sounded and one of the security guys crumbled to the ground, Eric had decided to go cowboy on them. Jack saw his chance and sprang out of the bushes, running for the hole in the ground. Bullets rained down on him and Eric did his best to cover Jack's back. Just when Jack was thinking reaching the hole would be impossible, a van came screeching into the clearing. Sawyer was driving and Angel had jumped out of one of the doors. He had a handgun in both hands and he shot down two security men before anyone could so much as blink. Miles and Kate were in the back, firing their guns through the door Angel had jumped out of. Richard was in the passenger seat, he shot at anyone that got close to flanking Angel. Sawyer ran over a security goon with the van, and then he parked it and climbed out the driver's door so he could shoot from the other side of the van. Jack saw his chance and made a mad dash for the hole. He was glad Angel was helping him this time, anyone that got close to stopping him was mowed down by Angel's guns.

"Now, Jack!" yelled Dr. Northman. Those were the last words he ever spoke. Radzinsky pulled the pin from a grenade and threw it at the Swedish scientist. It landed right at his feet and the blast blew him several feet into the air. Kate screamed and ran to his side, there was nothing anyone could do for him. His blue eyes stared up at the sky without seeing. Jack made it to the hole and threw the bomb down it, no hesitation. All of them squeezed their eyes shut and waited for the impact but nothing happened.

Back in the clearing Alex was listening to the sound of Sayid gurgling his own blood. Hurley was giving him water and trying to ease his suffering. Juliet was holding a t-shirt over the bullet wound, still attempting to staunch the bleeding. Daniel and Jin had taken Rome into the jungle because he had to pee and Dan didn't want him to see Sayid die.

"I wish he would just die already." Said Alex.

"That's a terrible thing to say, Alex." Said Juliet. Alex just shrugged and pretended to inspect her nails. When she looked up, there was someone standing in the trees in front of her but they took off running before she could see whom it was. She leapt to her feet and ran after them. After a moment she bumped right into Jacob himself and fell back onto the ground.

"Hello, Alex." He said pleasantly. He held out his hand and helped her up.

"What is it?" asked Alex. Before she could answer someone came crashing through the brush behind her. It was Hurley.

"I couldn't stay there anymore, dudes," said Hurley "Sayid is drowning in his own blood it's so gross!"

"Hello, Hugo." Said Jacob.

"You're the dude that gave me the guitar case. Before I came back here." Hurley answered.

"I know. I need you guys to take the guitar case and Sayid to the Temple. It's very important that they put him in the pool, do you understand, Alex?" Jacob raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why can't you do it?" asked Alex. Jacob laughed like it was funny.

"Because in a few minutes I'm going to be dead, and you're going to be moving on." Said Jacob.

"Moving on where?" asked Hurley.

Instead of answering them, Jacob turned and vanished into the jungle.

The Swan site had erupted into chaos. Metal objects off all sizes were flying through the air into the hole. Sawyer and the rest of his group ditched the van and they were trying to make a clean escape. Before sawyer could get very far, a gun clicked behind him and he turned to see Phil pointing a rifle at his head. Before he got a chance to fire, some metal scaffolding collapsed on top of him and sharp metal sticks impaled his chest. Sawyer laughed a little to himself and kept moving. Then, he heard Jack scream and saw him fall to the ground. Heavy chains had wrapped around his legs and he was being dragged into the hole. Kate grabbed onto him and she was almost pulled into the hole behind him. She screamed for help and Sawyer appeared next to her. Both of them tried to pull Jack out but it was no use, the chains were going to win. Jack could see the scaffolding coming down behind them.

"Go, now," he yelled at them "Get away from here!"

"No we can get you out!" Kate yelled in turn.

"I love you Kate, good luck." Said Jack. Then he let go of their hands and let the chains pull him down toward the earth's core.

When Jack regained consciousness, he was trapped under a metal beam. Then he saw it, the bomb. His hands found a rock and he brought the rock up and down until a white flash blasted him into oblivion.

_Richard had been at the Swan while all the metal was being pulled into the ground. Now he was back inside Jacob's statue, a bloody knife on the ground beside him. He could feel the knife wound on his chest slowly closing. John Locke and Ben were standing over him; only a few minutes could have passed since he was here in his last flash. _

_ "What are you still doing here?" asked Locke_

"_When am I?" asked Richard._

"_Go to the Temple, they'll be headed there soon enough." Locke answered. Richard knew he was talking about Alex. He sprang to his feet and took off in the direction of the Temple. _

**Author's note: This is the last chapter but I'm thinking of continuing into season 6. Or I'll write an epilogue. Please leave a review if you want to know what happens next. I randomly got inspired to finish this fic so if you want more speak now. **


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